Celebrating 75 years of Dance in Albany
The Dance Theatre Company will celebrate its 75th anniversary this Saturday, May 31, with its annual recital at the Albany High School auditorium. The performance is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.
A total of 99 students from Albany and surrounding areas are set to take the stage. This year’s senior dancers are Myleigh Leveridge, Avery Everitt, Ann Davis, and Hannah Mackenzie.
The milestone event not only highlights the current group of performers but also reflects on the rich history of the Dance Theatre Company—a local institution that has taught generations of Albany children the art and discipline of dance.
The Dance Theatre
Company
From Prairie Land Legacy
In 1950, Marge’s Dance Studio was opened by Marge Bray with eleven students, and with those children an Albany institution was born. The first dance lessons were taught in the American Legion Hall. Parents were excited with the aspect of having a local dance studio. Prior to the opening, Albany citizens had to drive to nearby Abilene for dance lessons.
Quickly, the Legion Hall became too small for classes. This issue became a chronic problem throughout the years, causing the Albany dance studio to relocate numerous times. Much of the growth in enrollment was credited to out-of-town students.
Ballet, Tap, Jazz, and Square Dancing had now been enduringly introduced to the citizens of the community. To better endow Albany’s youth for social affairs, Marge offered Ballroom Dance lessons to 7th and 8th grade boys and girls. Every Saturday night, after Ballroom lessons, the studio held a “Free Time Dance.” At this time, High School students and other youth in the community were invited to come and dance at the downtown studio. There was never a charge for the “Free Time Dance.”
Also in the 1960s, Marge added tumbling and gymnastics classes to her tutorials. Several balance beams and a trampoline were purchased for the studio. Sessions for boys and girls were quickly filled.
Annual recitals were always held in the public school’s auditoriums. Throughout the history of the local dance company, the Albany Independent School District provided facilities for each recital. Without the constant support and help of the school district, the annual production would not be possible. For over twenty-five years, Lynda Heatly, whose daughter had danced in Albany, took on the mammoth task of organizing and overseeing all the backstage activities for every show. More than 30 volunteers were needed to help produce the annual spring event. Each year, former students would sign up and come back home to help with the local dance presentation.
After returning from college, Betsy Black Parsons, who had danced with Marge throughout her childhood, was employed by the studio. “Working with Marge was never work. We both felt teaching children the art we were both passionate about was a blessing. Since Marge had indoctrinated me with the love of dance, we were a perfect team,” said Betsy. Tragically, Marge died with cancer in January of 1994 and the studio closed for the spring semester.
In the fall of 1994, the dance studio was reopened by Betsy under the new name, “The Albany Dance Theatre Company.” The studio opened with 75 students and two high school dance student instructors. The chronic problem of large class sizes and no studio space resurfaced again in 1997. Aware of the problem, Betsy and her husband Mike purchased the old “Ritz Theatre” in January of that year. Renovations began immediately. The new Whitney Theatre was completed in 1998, giving The Albany Dance Theatre Company a permanent home. By the year 2005, the student number had grown to 168 students with five high school dance student assistants helping with daily student instruction.
In the fall of 2011, Betsy hired former student, Malarie Sutton, as an assistant director for the company. Malarie had worked for Betsy earlier as a dance student instructor during her high school years. She was a perfect fit for the now larger studio. “Malarie and I are blessed to have the same working relationship that Marge and I had experienced. Work is still not work!” Betsy said. In 2021, Larson Garcia, another former student of Betsy’s, joined the instructors at the Albany Dance Theatre Company. Most recently, Hannah Snyder—also a former student—joined Malarie and Larson as part of the studio’s leadership team. In 2024, after 63 years of involvement with the studio, Betsy decided to step back from daily instruction and focus solely on senior solo choreography. Malarie, Larson, and Hannah are all talented and capable instructors. “I am extremely proud of all three of them and the job they do!” Parsons added. Longtime supporter Wade Jones has also played an important role behind the scenes, regularly helping the company and continuing to lend his sound equipment for the annual recital.
This dance season, the 2024-2025 year, marks the 75th anniversary of the Albany Dance Studio. During these 75 years, hundreds of Albany children have been enriched with self-expression in movement, grace, and confidence. Many students have gone on to study dance in college, dance professionally, and several have even opened their own dance studios.
