Not Just Ballet Theatre

Lee Edwards began his training in Ohio with Deborah Hardy and Jeanette Grider. He earned a place in Dance Theatre of Harlem's accredited Certificate Program where Co-founder Karel Shook, personally placed him in the Dance Pedagogy Program. The Late Bessie Schoenberg invited him to the first of her Choreographer's Workshops that were held at DTH. While still studying, and before completing BOTH Programs, he began his Professional Dance career at DTH as a founding member of The Workshop Ensemble, later called Dancing through Barriers, now simply known as Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble, where Arthur Mitchell and Homer Bryant, who directed the DTH School at the time, chose him to be one of the original dancers in the New York Metropolitan Opera's revival of George Gershwin’s “Porgy & Bess". After performing with DTH, Lee danced with Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux's Company at Chautauqua Lake, Alfred Gallman's Newark Dance Theatre, and others. While participating in a Summer Festival in Berlin Germany, he was asked to give a Workshop at Berlin's Ballett Centrum (Ballet Center), a State Supported Musical School in Germany. His "Workshop" and relationship with Europe lasted nearly two decades, where he performed, taught, directed, and choreographed productions all over Europe, Asia, West Africa, Puerto Rico and other parts of the World. Upon his return to Ohio, Lee Co-founded Not Just Ballet Theatre, with The Late D’Juan McCrary, also a DTH Alumnus, a classically based Contemporary Dance Company and Academy. He has had Students enter and qualify to participate in the New York Finals of the Youth America Grand Prix (www.yagp.org), the world's largest Competition and Scholarship Program for Young Dancers. He continues to teach, choreograph, and coach young people to continue the Legacy of Excellence, which Arthur Mitchell’s Vision began. Lee continues to move forward towards Arthur Mitchell’s “Noah’s Art”, a Worldwide, Olympian-Sized Village, a Haven of Dance and the Allied Arts. The Not Just Ballet Theatre Academy, (NJBA) provides Performances, as well as Educational Arts Exposure Series, Lecture Demonstrations, Choreography, Coaching and Dance Workshops.

Whether you're a beginner or professional dancer, I am confident you'll find a class to suit you at my studio. I offer ballet classes in a variety of styles for beginners, intermediates and advanced dancers, ensuring that all members can find a class that suites their level of experience. My children's classes are also divided by experience levels, not age, for those seeking to pass examinations or achieve certain qualifications.