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Foothills Dance Conservatory

Foothills Dance Conservatory (FDC) is the first premier, pre-professional dance school located in Seneca, whose exceptional ballet, jazz and contemporary dance training is recognized throughout the professional dance community as being one of the best training facilities in South Carolina.

Whether students attend "just for the fun" or for a possible future dance career, all deserve correct training.

Foothills Dance Conservatory was founded with a most ambitious objective in mind... To offer time-honored traditional dance instruction in a variety of subjects in a nurturing environment with teaching excellence normally found in big cities. You will find no students teaching classes at Foothills Dance Conservatory. Our professional faculty carry with them the professionalism they learned training with some of the best national and international teachers in the world.

Students from many locations have traveled to Seneca, South Carolina to take advantage of the opportunities offered at Foothills Dance Conservatory. We offer spacious state-of-the-art studios with high ceilings. All three spaces have injury-preventative wood sprung flooring with a slip-resistant Marley overlay in the two main spaces.

Foothills Dance Conservatory offers an exceptional building and correct training for all our students. A parent observation room allows parents to observe class instruction.

Registration Form

Available Dance Training

Ballet
Creative
Jazz
Modern
Pre Dance

Ginny Siano

Ginny Siano-Eck is the founding Artistic Director of Foothills Conservatory for the Performing Arts and owner of Foothills Dance Conservatory in Seneca.

She began her early classical training with Larry Long and Delores Lipinski at the Ruth Page Foundation and with Bell Bender and Ellis-DuBoulay dance schools in Chicago. Ginny holds a B.A. in Dance and Secondary Education from Barat College. While at Barat she trained with Kenneth Melville, Carol Walker, Bobbie Neiman, Marcus Alford, Eileen Cropley and danced with the Barat Repertory Dance Company. While pursing graduate studies at Northwestern University Ginny worked with Peter Sparling, Sue Lee and Juanita Lopez. She trained in modern dance with Randy Duncan, Joseph Holmes, Harriet Ross, Barry Fischer and studied jazz under Gus Giordano, Nan Giordano and Lea Darwin.

Ginny Siano-Eck taught modern dance for seventeen years in the Performing Arts Departments at Highland Park High School and for three years at Stevenson High School. Ginny has danced with the Tony Wilson Dance Company and Chicago Ballet Ensemble. In 1987 she founded Lake Shore Dancers and remained artistic director until 1996 when she relocated to the upstate. Ginny's former students have had professional careers with American Ballet Theatre, The Mark Morris Dance Group, Charleston Ballet, Maryland Dance Theatre, Cedar Lake Dance Ensemble to name a few. Ginny was artist in residence for the School District of Oconee County from 1997-2005 and is on the approved artist roster with the South Carolina Arts Commission.

Barry Fischer

Dr. Barry Fischer holds a B.S. in dance from SUNY College at Brockport; an M.F.A. in dance from Florida State University; and an Ed.D. in Dance & Dance Education, from New York University. A video of his doctoral dissertation, based on Martha Graham's 1936 ballet Steps-in-the-Street resides in the Dance Collection: of the Lincoln Center Performing Arts Library. As a result of Dr. Fischer's discovery, and work, the piece was first reconstructed and then re-introduced into the Graham Repertory, after a fifty year absence. Fischer has also studied at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, the London School of Contemporary Dance: The Place and The Juilliard School.

Favorite Falls: Martha Graham & Doris Humphrey is an original class Dr. Fischer has developed specifically for ACDF conferences so that any student may participate in experiencing the pioneers' innovative works. (A dance technique class is suggested before taking Favorite Falls, and is open to all students on any level).

Dr. Fischer, formerly an associate professor of dance at FSU, served as the director for the FSU Dance Co., was former three term Board member, is a Life-Time Member of ACDFA, hosted/coordinated the Mid-Atlantic American College Dance Festivals in 1999 and 2001, implemented the Frostburg Summer Dance Retreat, and was also a board member for the American Dance Guild.

Kathryn Esposito

Director and ballet instructor, received her extensive training from The Eglevsky School of Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet School, The Harkness Ballet School, The American Ballet Theater School, Ballet Arts Studio (Carnegie Hall), The Nubert Ballet, The Hartford Ballet and The Orlando Ballet. The passion she has for the art of dance has led her to teach, choreograph, lecture, teach at the college level, guest teach for summer workshops and judge dance competitions.

Kathryn has danced with such companies as The Eglevsky Ballet, The Hartford Ballet, The Dance Repertory Company, The Orlando Ballet (N.Y.) and Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. Kathryn has owned and directed her own school as well as acted as the Artistic Director of The Central Ohio Dance Academy. Kathryn was invited to be guest teacher and choreographer with The Eglevsky Ballet Summer Intensive and two years ago staged and choreographed The Columbus Youth Ballet's annual Nutcracker Ballet.

Students trained by Kathryn have gone on to dance professionally and have been accepted into many prestigious schools around the country, including The Kirov Academy, Julliard, The Joffrey Ballet and Jilliana.

Vaughn Newman

Vaughn Newman was born in Philadelphia, PA where he began dancing at William Penn Arts Charter. Later, Freedom Theater and PHILADANCO (The Philadelphia Dance Company) became his formal introduction to the dance world. But it wasn't until he moved to Miami, FL that he realized his passion is in dance.

During his training at New World School of the Arts he performed works by Anna Sokolow, Merce Cunningham, Jennifer Muller and works of Sean Curran. He has also performed various seasons with MOMENTUM DANCE COMPANY of Miami, FL and Premiered "Dreaming Amazonia" with Brazz Dance Theater, an Afro-Brazillian based company. Along with community organizations and various grant programs he has taught dance throughout South Florida for inner-city community centers and public schools, encouraging youths through the arts and dance.

His personal artistry fuses his life's experiences, humanly encounters, spoken word and dance with local artist and venues as a platform for higher consciousness in the Arts. The Foothills Conservatory has been his home since he moved here to the Upstate. Vaughn teaches & choreographs for the intermediate and advance students of FDC. Vaughn is currently working on his first solo project here in South Carolina.