Celebrating over 25 years of dance!
Send us your favorite dance memories and photos
Over Twenty-five years ago Nancy Baldwin Andrews founded the Ridgefield School of Dance and brought her love of dance to hundreds of students as both teacher and director. In July 2014, I purchased the school and together with Artistic Director Jessica Boelts, we brought our excitement, experience and passion to the school while staying true to the authenticity and traditions upon which the school is based. Throughout the years, the school has grown in size and reputation, and now we are excited to take the school into its next quarter-century..
Help us continue to celebrate dance by sending us your favorite memories and photos and we'll feature them on our website and social media. Whether your memory is of a particular lesson (in ballet or even in life!), making a new friend, or a funny anecdote, no memory is too small and we want to hear them all! Submit your memory in the field below or via email and we'll feature it throughout the year! Follow #RSoD20 to see everyone's memories.
One of my favorite memories is taking my daughter for the first time to see a Ridgefield School of Dance performance. My daughter Camille was 3 and we saw Cinderella. She was completely entranced by the ballerinas (and especially by the beautiful costumes!). 3 years later she began dancing at The Ridgefield School of Dance and her first performance was in Cinderella as a court jester. I love seeing her dance and the confidence it gives her and the wonderful friendships she has built with the girls in her class.
- Justine C.B., Parent
I started dancing with Nancy when I was in first grade at the Lebanon School of Dance and continued studying with her my junior and senior year of high school in Ridgefield. The Ridgefield community was so welcoming to me. I’ll never forget the weekends spent staying over in Ridgefield. I was lucky enough to teach modern and a couple ballet classes at RSD as I pursued my degree in Dance education. Teaching Friday evenings always gave me something to look forward to.
I miss Nancy constantly and think of her every day. She taught me much more than ballet and had so much passion for life. So happy her legacy lives on in the work RSD does everyday!
- Sarah M.
My favorite RSD memory is performing Alice in the 2015 spring performance. This was my first big role and it helped to raise my confidence as a dancer.
- Julia G., Company member, dancing with The Ridgefield School of Dance since 2005
One day when i was about 7 my class got to get pointe shoes from the older girls after a show. They each wrote little messages on them, then gave them out. We were all so excited because it was the first pointe shoe we ever owned(even if it was just one, and not our size). We slipped them on and danced in them, and i became so excited to start pointe in a few years that i even practiced with that shoe
- Ingrid K., Company member, dancing with The Ridgefield School of Dance since 2009
I am so thankful for all of the memories and laughter the RSD family has given me. Each day at is a new, fun adventure with some of the coolest people in the world! I wouldn't trade my friends at RSD for the world!
- Karina R., Company member, dancing with The Ridgefield School of Dance since 2006
We've all enjoyed growing up together through dance, and specifically getting to see us evolve through the years is something we all value. Making such a great group of friends is a memory that will stay with us through the rest of our time at The Ridgefield School of Dance.
- Sofia, Ingrid, Karina, Ariana, Rebecca, and Alexandra
The Ridgefield School of Dance gave me a second family! I've never been closer to a group of people than those i met through dance. I'm so thankful for Miss Nancy and Miss Alison. Beautiful people all around!
- Anneke S. Ridgefield School of Dance dancer 2002 - 2017
I started dancing at The Ridgefield School of Dance in 1998 and continued until I graduated high school in 2009; I certainly saw a lot of growth at the school with it's start in the basement of Jesse Leigh, to it's 1st "real" studio on Main Street, and to it's current home on Grove Street. I made great friends through dance class and have countless happy memories filled with laughter at the studio. I was at the school when Mrs. Baldwin first started the Ballet Company and we would perform excerpts from the Nutcracker at different nursing homes in the area. One performance sticks out in particular where we were in the middle of Waltz of the Snowflakes when the music stopped and, not missing a beat, Mrs. B sang/hummed the rest of the song from the back of the room (the show must go on!)! Luckily I think we got the music working again for the rest of the performance :). These holiday performances were just one of the many ways Mrs. B spread the joy of dance through our community. I'm so happy to see the school continuing to do well and am incredibly proud to see what beautiful dancers all the girls have turned into!
Callie K., Ridgefield School of Dance dancer 1998-2009
My favorite memories at the studio are acting out fun parts in ballets with my best friends!
Sofia G.
Company member, dancing with The Ridgefield School of Dance since 2008
I joined The Ridgefield School of Dance faculty in 2005 and became the owner in 2014. While I have many favorite memories, there is one that immediately springs to mind. A few years ago, I was sitting in my office when in walked a very young pre-ballerina in her pink leotard, tights and ballet slippers. She saw a pair of pointe shoes on the floor next to me, and within a split-second she had her little slippered feet tucked inside the much larger pointe shoes. I grabbed my camera and took a must-have photo - little did I know that this would become the image behind the "Start Small, Dream Big" campaign and the photo now hangs in my office.
Alison Brown
Executive Director
