Discipline and Drive

The Rozann-Zimmerman Ballet Center has been patiently shaping professional dancers for the past 47 years from its headquarters inside a 1950s-era strip mall.

The school emphasizes discipline and training more than performing, a philosophy that has paid off for at least seven of its advanced ballet students, who have been accepted to summer programs this year at major ballet company schools across the country. “Our desire is to bring a really serious conservatory-style school to the kids of Los Angeles, where it takes commitment, passion and discipline,” said Patricia Davis, a former American Ballet principal who runs the school with artistic director and renowned choreographer Patrick Frantz.

Through the summer programs, students receive intensive instruction from professional choreographers, directors and dancers. They also meet students selected from all over the United States and gain a better perspective on the competition dancers must face. For the sponsoring ballet companies, the schools provide opportunities beyond the audition to size up talent and provide some revenue during the off-season.

Tuition begins at $850 per student. Room and board runs another $2,000 to $3,000, depending on the school. Some scholarships are available, but usually cover only tuition.

The 90-minute daily classes at Rozann-Zimmerman are rigorous. It takes not only desire and talent, but also physical endurance and strength, Davis said. “It’s harder than anything else,” said Tory Morton of Santa Clarita, who reluctantly traded his hockey blades for ballet slippers four years ago as punishment for a disappointing report card. “I like it now. It’s fun.”

The 17-year-old hopes his summer scholarship with the Rock School of Pennsylvania Ballet will lead to full-time study there and, ultimately, a career in dance. During a recent point class, Frantz called out “Don’t bang it,” correcting a student. “We are civilized. We don’t chop wood.”

His instructions are laced with such metaphors and his French accent takes some getting used to.

“He would give me a correction and I would just stare at him,” said Alissa Guzman, 18, of Castaic, who will study at the American Ballet Theater school in Chicago this summer. “It took me three months to understand what he was saying.”

And for everyone, there are corrections. Frantz demands nothing short of perfection. Nevertheless, the rapport between teacher and students is obviously good. The teens are perfectionists, too. “That whole group really wants to excel for him,” said Jan Peixoto, whose 14-year-old daughter, Christine, has been dancing since she was 4 years old. She recently won a scholarship to the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle.

Allison Sloan, 14, of Santa Clarita, manages a straight-A average at Saugus High School and says the discipline of ballet has helped give her focus. “It’s given me a goal. I’ve always been dancing while growing up and setting certain goals for myself, whether short-term or long-term,” she said.

Abigail Whitman, 15, of Northridge, is home-schooled to give her time to study dance, said her mother, Kimberly Whitman. Although Abigail has been accepted to the Boston Ballet School this summer, the family is unsure whether she will attend.

“We’re trying to figure out how to get the money,” Whitman said, “It’s over $3,000.”

Honor student Gina Greschner, 14, of Chatsworth, was accepted at four company schools, including the Houston Ballet, but has decided to stay in the San Fernando Valley because she believes she can learn more at Rozann-Zimmerman than in a class with 50-plus students. But she plans to go next year.

Yvonne Mounsey, who danced with the New York City Ballet when legendary choreographer George Balanchine reigned, directs the Westside School of Ballet in Santa Monica, which has produced many professional dancers over the years and where many companies, such as American Ballet Theater, hold their West Coast auditions every year.

“We never send students younger than 14,” she said of the summer programs. “I wait until they are in their prime, and then they make a big impression.”

Mounsey said the school system has become too commercialized, especially with summer school for children as young as 9 years old. “If they want to pursue this as a career, they pretty much have to go away,” said Denise Bolstad, principal of the Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle. “In the past, to go away for the summer used to be a big deal. Now it’s more common, but it’s a good thing that more kids have the opportunity.”

For 15-year-olds Katie Marino of Valencia, who is headed for the American Ballet Theater in Detroit, and Reed Burton of West Hills, who will go to San Francisco Ballet, training at Rozann-Zimmerman has prepared them for the hard work ahead. During a recent class, Frantz asked Reed to repeat a pirouette several times, admonishing her not to pinch her back, yet to expand her sternum. “First you take care of the impossible,” he told her. “Then the possible is nothing.”

The advanced students will perform at Cal State Northridge June 3 at 7:30 p.m. The Rozann-Zimmerman Ballet Center, 9759 Mason Ave., Chatsworth, can be reached at (818) 341-0525.