Suzanne Tudor was born in South Carolina where she began dance lessons at the age of three, following in her sisters’ footsteps.  Her sister, Barbara Howle Counts, was an accomplished soloist with the Carolina ballet and soon was the ballet mistress of her own ballet company.  Mrs. Howle became Suzanne’s first ballet teacher. Suzanne danced many classical variations at an early age under the direction of Mrs. Howle.  As Suzanne quickly rose through the ranks of her company, she began to seek more professional exposure in her region. She traveled to dance with the Carolina Ballet in Columbia, under the Direction of Margaret Foster and she then moved on to South Carolina Ballet Theatre, in Charleston, under the Direction of Stanley Zampakos formerly of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.  At the age of 16 she was accepted to North Carolina School of the Arts where she studied under a faculty of international Master teachers under the Direction of Robert Lindgren and Duncan Noble.  Ms. Tudor was awarded a Dance Masters of America scholarship and continued her training in New York. In her early twenties she danced with The Washington Ballet under the Direction of Mary Day and Artistic Director Cho San Goh. Ms. Tudor has appeared as a guest artist with The Concert Dance Company, The Annapolis Ballet, The Maryland Ballet, The

Fredericksburg Ballet, and South Carolina Dance Theatre. She and her pas de deux partner appeared as guests artist with many companies as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier in Nutcracker performances. Ms. Tudor has also appeared as a guest artist in the part of Swanhilda in Copelia and Medora in Le Corsaire.  She has danced Balanchines’ Serenade for Strings, Glazaunov’s Four Seasons, Scheherazade, Carmina Bhurana, Le Grande Pas de Quatre, La Bayadere, Don Quixote and the pas de deux of Les Sylphide.  Ms. Tudor has also appeared in numerous musical theatre productions when it became necessary to supplement her income.

    While in the District of Columbia Ms. Tudor also taught ballet classes at the prestigious Madeira School for Girls and was the Artistic Director of the Fredericksburg Ballet in Virginia for 4 years.  In 1989 Ms. Tudor returned to South Carolina to become an Artist - in - Residence at Ashley River Creative Arts School, a magnate school for the arts in Charleston. While in Charleston, she danced and was a guest choreographer with The Robert Ivey Ballet. Lastly, going home once again, she worked as a guest artist with the South Carolina Dance Theatre for 3 years, was consequently asked to be Artistic Assistant of the same company and was also appointed to serve as Artistic Advisor to this companies’ Board of Directors, all under the direction of Barbara Howle Counts. Here she worked closely with Rajdenko Pavlovich of The American Ballet Theatre and Patricia Miller, a fellow South Carolina native, whose retirement from The Joffrey Ballet coincided chronologically. Ms. Tudor appeared as a guest artist at the famed Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C. for 3 years as well during this period of her career.  She last performed as a guest in The Columbia City Ballet’s 2000  production of The Nutcracker while her daughter Blair had her first appearance with a professional company, as a mouse. The Columbia City ballet is directed by William Starrett also a former member of The Joffrey Ballet (NYC).

    As a teacher Ms. Tudor has trained numerous dancers who now dance professionally with major companies throughout the U.S.  Some of these balllerina's include: Gillian Murphy, the star of American Ballet Theatre and Amy Aldridge, a principle dancer with the Pennsylvania Ballet and Tracy Taylor, soloist with Portland Northwest Ballet Theatre.

    Suzanne Tudor in now a resident of Fleming Island and is the owner/director of The Clay Academy of Dance Arts. The Clay Academy of Dance Arts is located at 400 St Johns Avenue in Green Cove Springs on the banks of the beautiful St Johns River!  Please call 904.375.2613 for more information.

FOOTNOTE:

    Ms. Tudor is also an avid volunteer in our community, having choreographed 5 productions for the Manatee Players. She has worked with the Clay High Dance Team and the Fleming Island High Dance Team. She has also choreographed a Christmas Musical for St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church. The Academy currently has two performances a year;  A presentation of excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s magical holiday classic -  The Nutcracker Ballet and a Spring concert entitled Rhapsody & Rhythm, both now in their 8th season!