Founder and Artistic Director Virginia Holte has created her own syllabus combining different methods of ballet training, including the Cecchetti, Royal Academy of Dance, and Vaganova Methods, to provide the broadest ballet education possible. This “mixed-plate” approach equips WHDTA students with the edge they need to compete when they attend summer programs, college, and dance-based programs, often skipping levels that have already been fulfilled by WHDTA.
More experienced WHDTA students frequently participate in summer internships with established dance programs, traveling to the mainland to pursue their passion, even earning scholarships and merit awards.
Classical Ballet Program
Each level of ballet is based upon taking the appropriate number of lessons per week on a regular, uninterrupted basis. The minimum amount of lessons per week is not mandatory but taking less than the recommended curriculum will slow mastery of each level.
Progression to the more advanced levels will be affected if one is not regularly attending. Each level has it’s own standardized curriculum syllabus and will take anywhere from 12 months or longer for completion.
Advancement depends on a variety of things: age, maturity, inherent ability, adherence to the program, and aptitude. Students are moved up when they are ready or by teacher recommendation. To achieve promotion students must pass a written exam and demonstrate that they have mastered the curriculum required for that level. Personal development and command of technique and steps is accelerated in the beginning levels. As the student progresses, more time must be spent on the development and maintenance of strength, balance, coordination, and flexibility.
AGES 3-10
Children’s Classes
Nurturing the love of dance, building strong dance foundation, correcting posture, placement, discipline, coordination, strength, flexibility, musicality, and working in groups.
Pre-Ballet I & II – Ages 3-5
These classes will introduce the basic ballet positions and vocabulary to build upon in later training. The emphasis is on rhythm skills, spatial awareness and fun, easy choreography with games to build coordination, strength, and flexibility. This class is geared towards inspiring the young dancers’ dreams and developing an appreciation for dance.
Primary Ballet I – Ages 5-6
This 2-year program introduces the younger student to the basic elements of dance. Class begins with a brief introduction to the ballet barre, followed by simple stretches and isolation exercises. Basic dance positions and movements and the French words for them are introduced, and coordination and musicality are explored with traveling steps across the floor such as gallops, skips, and waltz steps. Dancers also learn about listening skills and class etiquette.
Primary Ballet II – Ages 7-10
Building on Primary Ballet I, This 2 year program continues to build Ballet basics,coordination, & vocabulary. Class begins with ballet barre, followed by simple stretches and center technique. coordination and musicality are explored with additional combinations of traveling steps across the floor.
AGES 8-15
Youth Classes
High-quality training for a variety of levels. Recommend minimum 2 ballet classes per week plus complementary dance disciplines for noticeable improvement and advancement
Ballet I – Ages 8-12
This is a 3-year program with a possible transition year (Ballet I/II) based on teacher recommendation. At the barre, students are taught the fundamental aspects of ballet technique and develop proper/appropriate alignment, posture and placement in the elementary positions, promoting safety and strength. In center floor, students practice full movements and positions of the arms and head, learn various traveling steps, and explore rhythms.
Ballet II – Ages 8-14
This is a 3-year program with a possible transition year (Ballet II/III) based on teacher recommendation. Focus is on further developing a strong basic technique, using more difficult positions, leading to the ability to perform a wider range of movement vocabulary in the center floor. Recommend two classes pr week minimum.
AGES 11+
Pre-Professional Classes
Geared to dancers who wish to dance on pointe, and/or pursue a career or college education in dance or the performing arts. Recommended minimum 3 ballet classes per week plus complementary dance disciplines.
Ballet II, Pre-Pointe, Pointe Preparation (Includes study guide, terms) – Ages 11+
Students interested in dancing on Pointe are required to take this class in preparation for their Ballet II Exam. Those who have already taken the test and have pointe shoes are encouraged to attend for review.
Ballet II, Pointe – Ages 11+
Dancers practice basic steps and movements used in pointe class, focusing on strength in the feet, ankles in legs, to prepare for pointe-work. Those who are beginning pointe will take the same class in their pointe shoes. Focus is on developing strength in the fundamentals of pointe work so that students can work correctly and safely. Participation requires teacher recommendation, 2 years continuous training and minimum 2 ballet classes per week. Students will also need to pass a physical and oral examination.
Ballet III, Pointe – Ages 12+
Dancers fine-tune the basic positions and movements at the barre, complete with fully coordinated use of the arms and head. Skills are applied to further develop center work, where greater strength leads to a larger vocabulary of traveling steps, turns, and jumps. Students must have teacher recommendation to move to Ballet III. To best prepare for future endeavors, students will be introduced to a variety of variations and repertoire from traditional classical ballets such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Don Quixote and Coppelia to name a few.
Intermediate / Advanced Ballet,Ballet IV, Pointe – Ages 12+
The highest level of ballet: students practice more advanced barre work, focusing on accents and speed with accurate placement. Center work becomes more precise, allowing increased balances, extensions and speed, and more complicated steps. To best prepare for future endeavors, students will continue to work on a variety of variations and repertoire from traditional classical ballets such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Don Quixote and Coppelia to name a few.
AGES 12+
Teen / Adult Classes
Designed for students of all levels of training who are looking to dance for recreation, fitness, and enjoyment. Slower classes work on technique and placement.
Ballet Basics – Ages 11+
Is designed specifically for the older student with not much experience. Students will expand barre work in intensity and duration and will be introduced to beginning center work.
Jamy Woodbury received his formal training with Denver-based Cleo Parker Robinson dance ensemble, where he trained extensively in such forms as Graham Norton and Dunham intermixed with a rigorous schedule of ballet. Seeking to broaden his classical understanding, Jamy did a year stint with the Boston Ballet.
Miho Morinoue is an acclaimed dancer and a visual artist. As a member of the Complexions Contemporary Ballet Company she performed extensively in the United States and Europe. As a visual artist, she collaborated on numerous projects, designing costumes and setting ballets for Complexions, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Oakland Ballet, Philadelphia Ballet and many others. She has shown her paintings in Hawaii, New York and Seattle.
A Mauka Lani Graduate, Marina began training with WHDT when she was 5. Ms. Terwilliger went on to become Miss Kona Coffee 2002, attended UH Manoa as a Dance Major for 2 years, and returns to the Big Island of Hawaii after pursuing a commercial print modeling career in New York City.
Fredrick Davis studied at the prestigious Joffrey Ballet School. He attended summer intensives at American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, and North Carolina Dance Theatre. He danced with the Roxey Ballet Company in New Jersey and eventually Dance Theatre of Harlem. While at Dance Theatre of Harlem, Davis danced in many roles including the male lead in New Bach, the Pas de Deux from Act III of Swan Lake, in Robert Garland’s Return, in George Balanchine’s Agon and Alvin Ailey’s The Lark Ascending. He performed Agon and The Lark Ascending with Dance Theatre of Harlem at Jacob’s Pillow Dance. After leaving Dance Theatre of Harlem in 2015, Davis participated in a Dance for America tour, was a featured artist with Dallas Black Dance Theatre, danced at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C., danced in the Donald McKayle Tribute in Irvine, California, and danced for the Indiana Ballet Theatre. As a freelance artist, he has also performed with various ballet companies including Roanoke Ballet Theatre, Greensboro Ballet, San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet, and Dissonance Dance Theater. He is a principal guest artist at Ballet Tennessee and at Ballet Tucson. Davis returns to Chattanooga every summer as a guest artist in the Dance Alive program that first inspired his love of dance. He is featured in the film, From the Streets to the Stage: The Journey of Fredrick Davis. The documentary was created by Ann Cater of PBS and was filmed by the Emmy Award-winning crew from WTCI.
Shaina Leibson has had an over fifteen-year career as a professional ballet dancer. She has been a dancer with several companies including Alberta Ballet, Ballet Austin, and Ballet San Jose where she performed for eight years. Shaina was a soloist dancer with Ballett im Revier in Germany and spent five seasons as a Principal Dancer with Bay Pointe Ballet which was based in the San Francisco area. Shaina received her ballet training from the renowned San Francisco Ballet School.
Timour began his professional education with the Moldavian Opera House and the Bolshoi Ballet. Upon coming to America he danced with the Pennsylvania Ballet, New Jersey Ballet, and the New York-based Daring Project. In 1998, Mr. Bourtasenkov joined Carolina Ballet as a Principal dancer and founding member of the company. Mr. Bourtasenkov has choreographed works for Carolina Ballet, Infinity Ballet, New Jersey Ballet and most recently, the New York Choreographic Institute, using New York City Ballet members. His ballets include Light and Dark, sections of Messiah, Rag House, Elements, Memories, Visions, Intrigue, Dance of the Spirits, Fallen Dreams and Tango! Tango! Tango! Mr. Bourtasenkov won the Bronze Medal in the VII Massako Ohyo World Ballet Competition of Osaka, Japan and the V International Competition of Paris, France. He was awarded a jury prize at the 2nd Luxembourg International Ballet Competition. Mr. Bourtasenkov has appeared in two USSR movies: The Long Way and The Magic Star. In 1996, he filmed Little Red Ridinghood, directed by Davis Koplan and choreographed by Elena Tchernichova. In 1996, Mr. Bourtasenkov became the Artistic Advisor of Infinity Ballet and in 2005 he was named the Artistic Director of Carolina Performing Arts Center in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
Called “one of San Francisco’s leading dance teachers”, Henry Berg has, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, “carved a strong artistic niche as a teacher”. With a career that spans over three decades in dance, film, television, theatre, and academia, Mr. Berg has established himself as one of the foremost dance teachers in the country. His guest teaching engagements now include annual seminars for the Boston Ballet, the Academia Anna Pavlova in Bogata, Columbia, Joffrey Ballet, Dance Educators of America, Oregon Dance Academy, and the Village Dance Arts in Los Angeles. Mr. Berg traveled to Japan where he taught seminars in Tokyo and Nagoya, staging “American Ballet Selections” in 1994 for several companies there. Mr. Berg began his dance career in Hollywood, California, appearing in such films as “State Fair”, “How The West Was Won”, and “Babes In Toyland”. In 1962, he joined the San Francisco Ballet. Subsequently, he danced for over seven years with the Joffrey Ballet and assisted choreographer Twyla Tharp in New York City. In 1975, Mr. Berg created the Pacific Ballet Company with co-founders John Pasqualetti and Sue Loyd. He also joined the faculty of the San Francisco Ballet. The list of directors, dancers, and choreographers Mr. Berg has worked with include: George Balanchine, Robert Joffrey, Gerald Arpino, Lew Christensen, Ann Sokolov, Kurt Joos, Jon Hart, and Margaret Jenkins. Additionally, he has worked with skaters John Curry and Peggy Fleming, cartoonist Charles Schultz, and has appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Alaine Haubert, a fourth generation Californian, has the unique distinction of having been associated with America’s three major companies. She received her training from age fifteen at the School of American Ballet in New York City where she studied with George Balanchine and his illustrious post-Diaghilev faculty. After graduation from high school, she performed with San Francisco’s Pacific Ballet and then joined the national touring company of Camelot. In 1965, after a year on the road with Camelot, Alaine joined American Ballet Theatre, where she performed corps de ballet, soloist and principal roles. She was coached, during this period by such diverse and exciting choreographers as Tudor, DeMille, Robbins, Feld, Culberg, Lander, and Tetley, and also danced the classics. 
Leo Ahonen was accepted to the Ballet Academy of the National Opera House in Helsinki Finland at the age of six. He joined the National Ballet of Finland at the age of 14, and at age 17 guest performed with the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad and the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow. At the famed Vaganova Choreographic Institute in Leningrad, Mr. Ahonen became a private student of Mr. Konstantin Shatilov and received the “Kirov Trained” Certificate at graduation. Mr. Ahonen won a Bronze Medal in the Men’s Senior category at the Second International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria. He was a principal dancer and company teacher for the National Ballet of Holland, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, and the National Ballet of Finland. With his wife Soili Arvola, he danced as a principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet and was hailed by critics as The Flying Finn, West Coast Nureyev, and the Fantastic Finn.
Soili Arvola was accepted to the Ballet Academy of the National Opera House in Helsinki Finland at the age of eight. After graduating from the Academy at age 17, she was invited to join the National Ballet of Finland, touring with the company around the world. Among her numerous honors, Ms. Arvola won a Bronze Medal and Diploma for High Artistic Achievement in Women’s Senior (Professional) Category at the prestigious International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria. She has appeared as a guest ballerina with the Finnish National Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Chicago Ballet, Houston Ballet, London’s Royal Ballet Choreographic Group, Indianapolis Ballet Theatre, Ballet international de Ochi of Japan, and with many symphony orchestras, opera companies, and civic ballet companies throughout the U.S. and abroad. Ms. Arvola has performed as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, the title roles in Giselle and Cinderella, Swanhilda in Coppelia Kitri in Don Quixote and many others.