Claudia Cravey (Principal Teacher)

Claudia Cravey began her career as a professional Principal Dancer at the age of 13, with the London Times proclaiming her performance “a triumph.”  She performed with the Chicago Opera Ballet, Washington Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, in films and on television.  As a soloist with the Harkness Ballet, Ms. Cravey danced in works created by many prominent choreographers, developing extremely valuable experience in an eclectic repertoire.

As Ballet Mistress for Ballet Florida for 30 years, Ms. Cravey worked and trained her dancers to reach their full professional potential.  Ms. Cravey has learned the choreography for over 100 ballets with richly diverse repertories and rehearsed them with the dancers.  She has worked with more than 40 of the world’s leading contemporary and classical choreographers in setting ballets and resetting ballets in the company repertory.  She coached dancers in roles and taught class for the company of 22 dancers.  Her dedication to the continuing technical and artistic development of the dancers created a steady growth in the Company’s artistry.

Ms. Cravey approaches each class as an individual exercise tailored specifically to the needs of the dancers present.  She is dedicated to the growth of dancers not only as technicians, but also as artists.  As well as correcting physical technique, she works with students and professional alike on expressing their art form through movement.  Ms. Cravey is also personally interested in the development of her dancers as individuals, an approach that often extends outside the ballet studio.