Fifty years ago, Lisa Zola’s mother created a space that welcomes dancers to express themselves and leave their worries at the door.
Lisa Zola-De Libero continues to follow in her mother’s footsteps with the help of her staff to ensure their students’ smiles and laughter for years to come.
The Ballet Studio is a recreational dance studio where its students don’t just learn how to dance, but experience a space filled with joy and happiness as soon as they walk through those doors. This year, The Ballet Studio is celebrating its 50th anniversary and has maintained its traditions and philosophy for decades.
“Their daughters came to us, their granddaughters came to us, and now their great-granddaughters dance with us. Four generations of dancers,” said Lisa Zola-De Libero, the director of The Ballet Studio.
Zola-De Libero said that 50 years later, she still has the great-granddaughters of women who have danced with them coming and dancing at the studio.
The Ballet Studio holds a recital every year, but this year Zola-De Libero and her staff are especially excited. This years’ recital is in honor of their 50th anniversary.
Plans are for it to be held on June 11 at 6:30 p.m. at the Bordentown Performing Arts Center. In celebration of their 50th, they are bringing back and performing all of their dancer’s favorites dances of the past 49 years.
For The Ballet Studio, this is a momentous occasion.
“My daughters have danced at The Ballet Studio for the past 14 years. Some of my most treasured memories spent with my daughters were made at TBS,” said Anita Lubrano, mother of dancers Sabrina Lubrano and Julia Lubrano.
Lubrano says her daughters have learned lifelong qualities at The Ballet Studio, including dedication, teamwork and self confidence. “From the dance recitals to the dance competitions, the experiences and memories made at TBS will last a lifetime. My daughters have had the greatest and caring dance teachers here that we consider our family,” she said.
The Ballet Studio offers a variety of dance classes for its students. Dance styles include ballet, lyrical, pointe, jazz, hiphop, musical theater, and they just started tap a few years ago.
They also hold Mommy and Me dance classes, and beginning next fall, Zola-De Libero says the studio will offer nutrition and yoga workshops for people of all ages, from younger children to adults.
Zola-De Libero and The Ballet Studio staff are also excited to introduce their Acro dance program, which will be starting in the fall as well.
For those who are interested in dancing competitively, the studio holds a competitive dance program. While they may not be a professional school, they have guided a number of dancers who wished to dance professionally to the next level.
Zola-De Libero and The Ballet Studio staff have developed what they say is a very strong competition program, where their dancers have won nationals and have placed gold and platinum in regional dance competitions. They have several levels of their competition program, and work to accommodate dancers who are involved with other extracurricular activities in school.
The Ballet Studio is also planning to have a summer dance competition program this year and has solo, duet, and trio one hour sessions. The studio will be having other fun summer dance classes.
There is no limit to the amount of classes a dancer can take, whether they decide to take one or five a week. The studio offers these classes to people of all ages, from 18 months to people in their teens.
For 50 years, The Ballet Studio’s philosophy has been painted on their walls, inspiring their dancers everyday. This philosophy says, “When I dance, I forget everything else, and just feel completely happy.”
This motto remains in the mind of not only the dancers, but also Zola-De Libero and her staff.
“We all experience stress and rough days, and we want our dancers when they walk through that door to feel like they are home and safe and loved and appreciated. We want them to come in and feel a part of their family, and we want them to leave feeling happy and feeling joyful,” Zola-De Libero said.
The Ballet Studio is not only passionate about dance, but is very big into community and volunteerism. They have helped those at Trenton Cats Rescue, WomanSpace, Merwick Care and Rehabilitation Center and other organizations in need. The Ballet Studio dancers and staff make sure to give back to their community with donating and volunteering for events.
Zola’s mother, Beverly Zola, and father, Michael Zola, started the business 50 years ago. Zola’s mother was a professional ballerina and decided to start the business because dance was something she was passionate about. Despite being just nine years old at the time, Zola-De Libero assisted her mother during her classes at The Ballet Studio. Zola’s mother ran the studio for 23 years. After her mother started a new career in gerontological counseling and Zola-De Libero earned her teaching certificate, the timing was right to start running the business.
As the golden anniversary approaches, Zola-De Libero thanked all of the parents and families for staying loyal and committed to the studio getting and helping to gett them through the pandemic.
“It has been very difficult. It is because of the parents and the dancers who remained loyal to the ballet studio but most of all the true thing that makes our business run the way it does is the staff,” Zola-De Libero said. “We are a family, in fact we are all so close that we all attend and have been each at other weddings and are godparents of some of each other’s children. I love our staff and they are so good at what they do and are so passionate about what they do. They love what they do and most of them have daughters who dance at the studio.”
She expressed that she is fortunate to have a patient and kind staff who care about the kids and who help her carry out the traditions that began 50 years ago.
Zola-De Libero could not thank or be more grateful to her parents for starting the business, because it is thanks to them that she gets to experience so much joy and happiness everytime she enters the studio. She also wanted to thank her husband, Ralph De Libero, and her kids, Julia and Brandon, for being supportive and helping her with the studio.
She also offered thanks to Alicia Riley, Amanda Ruzich, Amber Brovak, Cara Jorgensen, Courtney Anthes, Daria Briggs, Erika Houseworth, Nina Marchesani, Sherri DiStefano, Tara Toporek for everything they have done, and continue to do, for the students and the studio. Another thank you goes out to the rest of her staff and guest teachers who have come throughout the year to teach the students.
The Ballet Studio, 59 U.S. Route 130 N., Yardville NJ 08620. Phone: (609) 298-5396. Instagram: tbs_dance.
Hip-hop dancers from The Ballet Studio include (front row) Amberlyn Wilson, Julia Lubrano, Kayla McLaughlin, Alexis Scott, Hailey Muhler and (back row) Heather Jeannette, Emily Joseph, Mia Donnelly, instructor Amanda Ruzich, Samantha DeSantis, Ava Riley and Riley Carr. (Photo by Julia De Libero.),
