Ballet Caliente Gets New Digs
Posted by The Art Park
Bay Leader
This isn’t the first time Sheryl-Marie Dunaway chose Lexington Park, Md., to operate the Ballet Caliente Classical School of Dance.
Ballet Caliente was launched in 1996 in the complex of buildings at 21615 S. Essex Drive, nestled among a number of other locally-grown business successes including Compliance Corporation, the MIL Corp. and J.F. Taylor. Upon her family’s return to the NAS:Patuxent River area in September 2012 — her husband is Rear Adm. David Dunaway, Commander Naval Air Systems Command — Mrs. Dunaway embarked upon construction of a new studio on St. Andrews Church Road/Route 4.
Sticking with her same landlord, builder Tom Watts, the new studio is nearing completion.
Similar to other projects by Mr. Watts, the building is constructed for multiple uses and contains additional commercial rental space finished for near-immediate tenancy.
Ballet Caliente has been a successful Lexington Park business since opening 13 years ago. The local availability of classical training in ballet, as well as professional study in jazz and modern dance, is something of a capstone to the earliest efforts of Navy wives to broaden the offerings of Lexington Park since the arrival of NAS:Patuxent River in the 1940s. Among some of the oral histories collected about that earlier era are stories of ballet classes offered in the homes of Navy families who found themselves in a posting far away from such opportunities.
Ballet Caliente is a far cry from the basement lessons offered in the 1950s. Mrs. Dunaway began her training in classical ballet at age 3 with the British Ballet Academy. By age 16 she was invited to apprentice with the San Francisco Ballet Company. Moving 17 times during her 26-year marriage to Vice Adm. Dunaway, she has maintained her career through a love of teaching. Her artistic direction and direct teaching has touched hundreds of students around the world, including Japan.
Similarly, Ballet Caliente’s new studio is a far cry from the basement “studios” of a half-century ago. Mr. Watts, in addition to new construction, has also rehabilitated structures from that earlier era for contemporary use. His renovations include projects in New York and New Jersey, as well as his hometown Lexington Park, where he recently completed converting a warehouse on Route 235 into CrossFitPax Gym.
The Ballet Caliente building is nearly ready for occupancy. For more information about available space, contact Mr. Watts at (301) 502-4789.
Register beginning in APRIL for SUMMER dance.
Dance year begins in September (After Labor day) and late registration (for 2013-2014) closes in JAN for CHILDREN.
Adult registration is open year-round.
There are four instructors in addition to Mrs. Dunaway.
