New ballet studio at Pinecrest Plaza

A performance by International Dance [Terry Wingfield].

A ballet studio will stay in Pinecrest Plaza after all. Balancé Ballet, which had been in the shopping center for the past 11 years, closed in June. At the time, co-owner Marla Boulter said she couldn’t afford a rent increase.

International Dance of Falls Church has acquired Balancé Ballet Inc. and the combined studios will operate in the former Balancé studio under the name International Dance.

“We believe that the acquisition by International Dance will provide our students with expanded forms of dance and additional occasions to perform in public,” states Boulter. “We are enormously pleased our students will have these broader opportunities.”

Fall classes at International Dance will start the week of Sept. 6. In addition to Pinecrest Plaza, the studio holds classes at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Annandale and Sleepy Hollow Preschool in Falls Church.

International Dance began in 1962 when German-born and Russian-trained dancer Christina Heimlich founded the Christina Heimlich School of International Dance after a professional career as a soloist with the English Royal Ballet. The Christina Heimlich Dancers performed at the White House, Kennedy Center, foreign embassies, and the International Children’s Festival at Wolf Trap.

After Heimlich died in 2012, the studio was led by artistic director and former student Lisa Filipy. Filipy will continue to teach and co-direct the school along with new owner Elizabeth Hawkins.

“Miss Elizabeth,” as she is known, is also a former student of Christina Heimlich and an accomplished dancer, choreographer, musician, and artist.

The new school will be “a combination of equals,” says Hawkins. “Students can expect the same focus and high-quality instruction for which both schools are well-known and highly regarded.”