Who are we?

Dear Friends of the Arts, 

My name is Laura Hughes. I am proud to be part of a wonderful small arts organization in Cincinnati. We are The Anneliese von Oettingen School of Ballet and Ballet Companies. We are proud to be in our 61st year of continuous operation, which gives us the distinction of being the oldest and longest running Ballet school in Cincinnati. As such we are a treasure trove of history and keepers of a beautiful artistic heritage brought to Cincinnati in 1948 by Anneliese von Oettingen.

In the 74 years Anneliese taught up to her death in 2002, in Germany, Cincinnati, New York State (at her Camp in the Adirondacks), in Tennessee, and in Florida, who can say how many lives she touched. Her career began in Germany with training from top instructors in Berlin including Eugenie Edwardova and trips to England where she studied with the famous Nicolas Legat. She was a professional performer in Germany, but also taught and was licensed by the German state to train dancers for the Opera houses at her own School of Ballet in Berlin. Although she managed to keep working during much of the war her family was targeted as having no German passport because of where her father was born. With a husband forced into the German army and missing in action and two young children, she was among the first wave of war refugees to arrive in the States in 1947. With an older sister already married and living in Cincinnati she settled in Cincinnati and soon opened a studio in Peebles Corner, Walnut Hills.

   More and larger studio spaces were to follow with many firsts that paralleled the development of classical ballet in the states: one of the first to portray spiritual topics in ballets during the Festival of Faith in 1957; among the first to help establish ballet in the universities with 14 years teaching at Our Lady of Cincinnati College; among the first to apply ballet training to assist and rehabilitate injured athletes as evidenced by a mention in Sports Illustrated and even an appearance on the TV show “To Tell the Truth” in the 70’s.

She was one of the seven area ballet teachers to form the Cincinnati Civic Ballet, which later became the Cincinnati Ballet Company. Even then, Frederick Franklin was guest teaching and setting choreography on her students, and Violet Verdi was using Anneliese’s studio as an audition site for the New York City Ballet program.

Despite her many accomplishments, one aspect of her work is worth note. Her early career experiences trying to survive during the Nazi Regime gave her a fierce desire for artistic independence and a mistrust of governmental involvement in the operations of artistic organizations. For many, many years Anneliese continued her work without artistic grants as a privately run ballet studio. But that is not to say she operated without recognition for her efforts. Over the years Anneliese was to receive many rewards and recognitions, including City proclamations in 1980,1981, and 1989, and a Key to the City in 1989. At that time a Bicentennial plaque was placed at the site of her first ballet studio on Woodburn Avenue, officially recognizing it as a “Cincinnati’s First.” In 1998 at her 50th year of teaching in Cincinnati, she received “The Governor’s Award” a state citation from Governor Bob Taft.

Up through the 1970’s Anneliese was hiring teachers she had personally trained to assist and teach classes for her. As the instructors were acting more autonomously contracts were put into place for these teachers to be full time directors of their own studio locations, operating as sole proprietors of their own businesses and paying Anneliese a licensing fee. Thus began a period of growth and outreach where Anneliese oversaw eight studio locations, 2 Kinderballet Companies, and an additional “adult” or senior ballet company in addition to her summer ballet camp in the Adirondacks. Other students were already making their mark in major companies around the country and some ballet organizations closer to home. Janet Carlton (early Cincinnati Ballet Company Ballet Mistress and longtime studio owner), Jack Louiso (of School for the Creative and Performing Arts) Johnnie-Lynn Jacob-Percer (current co-director of CCM Preparatory Dance Division) all had early affiliations with Anneliese.  Jo Rowan, current chair of the Dance Department in Oklahoma City University’s Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Arts Management was a long time student of Anneliese.

These local studios actuated an important part of Anneliese’s work. She always wanted the Art of Ballet to be accessible to all, being “in the neighborhood” was important to that. She never wanted Ballet to seem lofty or aristocratic. Nor did she ever want to be known by any fancy titles or monikers: No “Madams” or “Ballet Mistress.” Everyone called her simply “Anneliese.”

 When I first met Anneliese in January of 1984, the studio was beginning to change once again. Starting in 1988 studio instructors began shifting gears, changing careers, moving away, and parting company; including Anneliese’s own daughter, Cornelia (Conni) Berns, who stepped down from teaching in 1989 to focus on her young family and her work as mother, foster parent, and child advocate. Anneliese began spending more time in Florida and was no longer teaching full time.

By 1994 I was the only instructor trained in Anneliese’s methods and teaching under her name. In 1995 Anneliese would form an alliance with one other instructor who trained and performed professionally in Europe and Canada. This alliance lasted until shortly after Anneliese’s passing, as all of her previous teacher contracts stipulated. Anneliese’s daughter, Cornelia (Conni) Berns, and myself were the only ones with Anneliese’s permission and blessings to continue after her passing.

In June of 2002 I, too, faced similar decision to support my husband’s career opportunity   by moving to Arkansas. This was just before Anneliese’s death in December of 2002. From the beginning I was trying to continue the studio any way I could, hiring other teachers, and continuing in many of the administrative duties. In February 2003 Conni began to assist rehearsals and returned to teaching in the fall of 2003. Together with assistant instructors, guest artists, and key parents helping with day-to-day operations, we have continued. We have begun training instructors in earnest with our apprenticeship program, and our Kinderballet continues to perform. In addition we have sought out opportunities for satellite locations in southeastern Indiana. We continue because those who know us see in our program a certain uniqueness that in not met by other ballet programs in the city.  As blessed as we are to have such a thriving artistic community, it would not be the same without the School of Ballet. This necessity keeps us inspired to continue and thrive. As a non-for profit organization we have the financial format to continue the work Anneliese began.

The specific methodology we strive to preserve involves many philosophical and technical aspects to our overall approach. These are our four main positions:

1. We view the Art of Ballet as encompassing a long history of expressive movements derived from careful studies in human movement and expression over the centuries: intricate court dances, folk and character traditions, and pantomime. We do not view ballet as mere poses from a book, nor staged tableaus in tutus.

2. We view the Art of Ballet as the cultural right of any and all. We do not limit our knowledge to those who may have more ideal body types nor limit our expertise to only those with the best chances of becoming professional dancers. This includes working with those who may be blind, hearing impaired, or with any other physical or mental challenge. Here we are careful to distinguish that our students are given individual attention, and that all classes are taught with correct classical techniques, so that any student could become a professional dancer with our training, if they are so gifted. In fact, many of our students have become professional dancers.

3. We train our dancers in the language of expressive movement using specific technical terms. We begin with an organized floor barre that trains specific muscle groups in an aerobic fashion. We also include an improvisational story telling technique that transforms the merely technical terms into expression by use of creative metaphor.

4. It is our opinion that ballet is a means to an end for presenting students with a unique educational opportunity. Not only do we view the Art of Ballet as important unto itself, but much of its value is as a process for learning more important life lessons like discipline, hard work, creativity, and co-operation. In our operations we focus not only on the “Art of Ballet,” but the “Art of Teaching.” We have found that in the normal scheme of things, most teachers don’t really teach. They present materials, and expect the student to absorb the material. We use varied materials, and continue to rotate ideas and visualizations, dramatizations, until the material is learned. We teach: meaning the teacher changes until the student changes.

I invite you to contact me with any questions about our organization. With the final IRS approval received September of 2005 we continue a transition period.  We continue to put into place the means of continuing our Ballet traditions with the same passion and zeal we have always had.   We invite you to be part of this tradition, and thank you for any assistance you may provide.

Sincerely,

Laura Hughes

Artistic Director,
Anneliese von Oettingen
School of Ballet & Ballet Companies
cell: 513 410-0277