Jess Lombard Dance Centre

RAD Exams day 3 done and dusted! Another smooth and happy exam day. Well done girls!

Now with so much excitement we move on to choreography on dances for the Festival.

So grateful to teach all the students in the studio!

RAD Exams day 2 done! This morning was cold so there was warming up of toes by the heater and planks to centre themselves before going in.

The students had a lovely time in the exam room after their hard work and dedication in the months leading up to today.

Last day tomorrow!

Day 1 of our RAD Ballet exams done and dusted. The students all had a special experience in the exam room.

After many months of hard work, hours of determination and so much improvement for each of them - we are so proud of them all. We love being a part of their dancing journeys!

Two more days to go and more students showing their love of dance to the examiner tomorrow and Wednesday. We've got this girls!

NEW TEACHER ALERT!
We have such exciting news. We have a new full-time teacher who will be assisting Jess in the weekday lessons, Cristina Lucas-Bull. We have had Teacher Cristina in the studio for 3 weeks now, and the students have already learned so much from her.

Cristina started dancing at the age of 4 years old with Sandra Carstens. She completed all her RAD exams and solo seal award. At 13 years old, she competed in the Val Whyte Bursary awards and then later joined the Joburg Ballet Academy dancing there until she was 18 years old.

After finishing matric, Cristina joined Joburg Ballet Company as a Junior Corps de ballet member and worked her way up to Soloist. She danced professionally for 10 years and gained invaluable experience in dancing in professional productions. She has many years of experience working with local and international choreographers and producers in both ballet and contemporary dance.

She danced soloist roles in The Nutcracker, Carmen, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Sylphide, Don Quixote, and Swan Lake. She also danced the lead role in The Nutcracker, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Giselle and Sleeping Beauty.

Cristina’s dancing career has provided her with invaluable technical ballet knowledge and an understanding of correctly training young dancers. Her goal is to assist young dancers in progressing in their ballet in a happy, nurturing way. She has always had a passion for teaching and is so looking forward to sharing her expertise with the young dancers of the studio.

Our first ever class of Intermediate Foundation students got their pointe shoes last weekend! Such a special moment for them all! Congrats for getting to this stage of your dancing journey girls ❤️

Yesterday we had a sewing lesson to teach them how to sew on their elastic and ribbons. Now the hard work starts. Let's do this!

Special group of Primary ballet girls having such fun in their classes.

The jump from Pre-Primary to Primary is a big one and these girls are focusing and coping well amidst most of them also starting "big school" this year! I'm so proud girls!

Our dedicated class of Grade 4 ballet girls. The lessons with these girls are always as focused as they are fun. So looking forward to watching them all progress in their own ways again this year. 🩰

A little rest during our Tiny Tots 2 class last week in the heat! Such cuties learning so much in their ballet lessons. 🩰

Some of our students in their lessons yesterday. They are loving our new floors and have made such a good start to the year already!

Let's keep going, girls! 👏