LEBANON — After more than 40 years in business, Lebanon Ballet School is closing its doors this June.
The decision comes as the school’s director Linda Copp plans to retire, her daughter Jennifer Henderson, the school’s assistant director, said in a Wednesday interview.
While Henderson teaches at Lebanon Ballet School, she opted not to take over the school after her mother’s retirement.
“It’s all-consuming, running a business, managing a business,” Henderson, 45, said.
She also has some physical limitations after injuring her spine horseback riding, which means long hours in the studio are not an option.
But while Lebanon Ballet School is closing, a new school is picking up the gauntlet. Jennifer Chambers, the head of school at New England School of the Arts, a fledgling Lebanon-based private school for students in grades six through 12, has plans to launch NESA Ballet, a full studio program with classes for students ages 3 and up.
The first round of classes is set to kick off in June.
Starting NESA Ballet “just seemed like an incredible opportunity for us to grow as an organization,” Chambers said in a phone interview.
Chambers launching a ballet program in place of Lebanon Ballet School struck Henderson as a “no-brainer,” she said.
“I know Jenny wants a successful program, she wants to do it right,” Henderson said.
Formerly the music coordinator at Hanover High School, Chambers launched NESA a couple of years ago with the goal of creating a school that puts the arts at the center of the curriculum. The school, which currently has 12 students, frequently collaborates with arts organizations across Lebanon, including Upper Valley Music Center and Lebanon Opera House.
Chambers hopes that NESA Ballet will fill a need for ballet programs in the Upper Valley since a couple other dance schools have closed in recent years.
Doreen Keith, who ran Dancers’ Corner in White River Junction for 33 years, closed the school in 2022 amid ongoing health struggles, and White River Ballet Academy shuttered in 2024.
While Copp’s retirement has precipitated Lebanon Ballet School’s closure, the program also took a hit during the coronavirus pandemic, which saw lower enrollment numbers among young students.
“We lost a lot of students to other activities that were easier to manage during COVID,” Henderson said.
The school now has about 70 students middle school-aged or younger, but the cohort of high school and adult students is a fraction of that.
For that reason, over the past year, Lebanon Ballet School has held off on staging performances at City Center Ballet, where Henderson serves as artistic director, she said.
Chambers hopes to bring those productions back in the coming years.
“It’s been hard for organizations to regain momentum with doing main stage productions” since the pandemic, Chambers said. “This is an incredible opportunity to leverage our organization to just get it going, to continue the legacy and start bringing back a Christmas production, a spring ballet.”
As of Monday, about 30 students had signed up for NESA Ballet’s June programming, which range from an introductory class for students ages 3 to 4 to a three-day adult ballet class.
The year-round classes begin Aug. 31, and vary greatly in style and cost. A beginner pointe class, for example, is $1,275 for the year, while the adult ballet class is $20 per session.
Chambers also plans to offer musical theater classes and eventually introduce other styles such as jazz and modern dance.
Five or so instructors are set to teach at the school so far including Henderson, and Kassady Small, an Enfield native who started dancing at Lebanon Ballet School at 2 years old.
Classes will take place in Lebanon Ballet School’s two studios, next to Omer and Bob’s on the Lebanon Mall, and at NESA’s dance space, a short walk away at 9 Hanover St.
