About the Instructor
Alice Schonbek lives in Plattsburgh, NY, and has been involved in the training of North Country dancers since 1983. From 1983-1986, she taught in the theater department at SUNY Plattsburgh. Ms. Schonbek also taught at Guibord’s North Country School of Ballet until 2012.
Prior to moving to Plattsburgh, Ms. Schonbek spent ten years in NYC where she was a merit scholar at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, and at Steps on Broadway. While studying and performing in NYC she earned a Master’s Degree in dance performance from NYU, which included the study of ballet, pointe, modern dance and jazz. Alice studied with modern dance notables Bertram Ross, Pearl Lang, Joyce Trisler and Paul Taylor among others. After moving to Plattsburgh, Alice continued dancing in Montreal.
It was through her involvement as a founding member, and later, Artistic Director of The North Country Ballet Ensemble (NCBE) that she was introduced to Michela Boschetto, Director of the Olympic Center School of Ballet, which became the LPCA School of Ballet. Ms. Schonbek was hired to teach ballet and later, modern dance, in LP in 2010 and has continued to teach there ever since.
Alice is currently an American Ballet Theater Certified Teacher® Levels Primary-Level 7, has studied with Rinquo Du (Vaganova Teaching Method) and has studied with Lisa Howell, Dance Physiotherapist.
Ms. Schonbek’s community affiliations include serving as Past President of the Board of Directors of the Council on the Arts for Clinton County, where she was instrumental in consolidating the COACC with the North Country Cultural Center for the Arts, now The Strand Center for the Arts. Alice has served on the Board of Trustees of the Strand Center for the Arts and as a member of the board of Rebecca Kelly Ballet as well as having served on the Executive Board of Emerge 125.