Daniel Johnson – Ballet
In last October’s issue of The Artisan, I told you about the history of St. Petersburg’s The Academy of Ballet Arts and its co-founder, Suzanne Pomerantzeff or “Ms. P.” Now, let’s take a look at a professional dancer who not only attended the Academy as a kid, but has been a ballet instructor there for seven years.
A Gibbs High School graduate and longtime St. Pete resident, Daniel Johnson performed with ballet studios throughout the eastern U.S. for years before finding his way back to his home community and the studio that started it all. He is the director of the men’s division and the instructor for pas de deux (partnering) classes and boys’ classes at the Academy.
Daniel got his start with dance at the age of 8 years old when he came from football practice to pick up his brother from a Russian character dance class at the Academy. He was interested because the dancers were doing “a bunch of cool tricks,” Daniel recalled. Ms. P noticed Daniel’s interest and asked him if he would like to join the class. He loved it, so she told him he needed to take a ballet class. Though he was reluctant at first, Ms. P was convinced he had something special and provided him with a full scholarship to join the Academy.
“I didn’t like it for five years,” Daniel explained. “Not until I studied at Miami City Ballet, where I got to see Edward Villella’s dancers perform.” By around 12 years old, Daniel realized that dancing was what he wanted to do with his life, so he began to take it more seriously.
He studied at Boston Ballet and Orlando Ballet and later attended The Boston Conservatory on a full scholarship, graduating in 2012 with a degree in dance. He then moved to New York City and joined the Nai Ni Chen Dance Company, where he danced for two years. They performed a style of modern contemporary dance mixed with martial arts and tai chi. After finding out he was going to be a father, Daniel decided to relocate to Asheville, North Carolina, where The Asheville Ballet’s artistic director Ann Dunn took him under her wing.
Daniel later returned to Florida where Ms. P welcomed him with open arms as a ballet instructor at The Academy of Ballet Arts. He’s been teaching there ever since.
When asked what his favorite thing about teaching is, Daniel replied, “giving back to the community and seeing the young artist grow every year as an artist. I couldn’t ask for more!”
