Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to VANESSA ZAHORIAN. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, VANESSA thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I had been dancing Ballet since I was 5 years old and professionally with the san francisco ballet for 20 yrs. A principal ballerina for 15 of those years. It was time to retire physically and I had the opportunity to become the co artistic director, alongside davit karapetyan, my husband and former ballet partner with the san francisco ballet, of pennsylvania ballet academy collaborating with our founder deborah hoover to start a brand new ballet school in pennsylvania called pennsylvania ballet academy back in 2017. We came up with the name, and how the studio inside should be designed with flooring, and mirrors and ballet barres. We knew we wanted to pass on our knowledge and expertise to the next generation of dancers. Plus I am an owner of my own gyrotonic business which I pursued and fell in love with while dancing in San francisco and which helped me with my professional dancing career. I knew I wanted to incorporate this into the curriculum at our ballet school. After you finish your career in ballet with something you identify with its easy to get lost but I put my head together and was proactive with thinking about my next step and career and it all landed in my lap with timing. Our founder was looking for artistic directors to lead the ballet school and I was able to have my gyrotonic business bloom with being a part of the curriculum at our school and with outside clients. The two worlds of ballet and gyrotonic are so relatable and coincide with each other. The dancers benefit greatly. The Gyrotonic® method is a method of exercise developed by Juliu Horvath, a professional dancer. Besides the focus on exercise of various muscle groups, and on rotational movements, the Gyrotonic® technique also focuses on breathing and rhythm. The Benefits of Gyrotonic for Dancers * Improves turnout and extensions
* Improves spinal and hip mobility
* Strengthens ankles while improving your point
* Improve jumps and petit allegro
* Effective injury prevention and rehabilitation
* Improves breathing patterns and stamina
* Fun and different way to get class!
Both my husband and I were great dancers and well known in the ballet world but not necessarily if you are a successful dancer will you be a successful studio owner and instructor but we have proven that with hard work dedication and focus we can make it happen. We grew from a handful of students to fifty or so students in six years time. We hope to keep growing. I grew up and was trained in the ballet locally. It is hard to compete with already long time established ballet schools but we keep our blinders on and do what we love and know best. I think all ballet schools can thrive in the area together. I think that everyone can benefit and learn from one another. Not everyone will love my ballet school and training but I have put together what I feel best benefits the students. I like our curriculum and the progress of our students. We have had a lot of students come to us because of our name in the ballet and because of our reputation as dancers and teachers. We hope to inspire the dancers and to motivate them in becoming their best dancer self. We want to have a caring and loving environment for each of the students to grow and learn. We also wanted to bring to the suburbs of harrisburg, pa area an international european classical ballet style of the elite quality and class and one that is not already in this area. One that is brought to you and that you dont have to search for it. Because when I was 13 I left home to pursue the same training that I wanted to bring locally to pa. So parents don’t need to send their students away from home at a young age in order to receive good targeted and one on one classical ballet training.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I wrote about this on other page but also…I am a go getter and ahard worker. Very disciplined and a perfectionist which rubs off to my dancing and now teaching. Its all about the details. The process how to get to pointe B from point A. I dont like to copy peoplebut to try to be original.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

In 2017 my husband and I needed to think and plan our next career because my husband was getting injured a lot and our director was getting upset a lot.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I do email or texting with clients and I do everything by thebooks to not get in trouble.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Vzahorian
• Linkedin: Vanessa Zahorian