Alumni

Dear Billings’ Alumni,

As many of you know, Richard E. Billings was the 4th generation of his family in the Dance business. Richard and Mary Billings founded the Billings School of Dance in 1932. In those years it was primarily a school of Ballroom, Tap and Ballet. Though Mr. Billings taught some “eccentric” dance, in the style of Buddy Epson, there was no Jazz or Hip-Hop in those days. Thousands of students went through the school each year. The Billings would often see as many as 600 Ballroom students per night.

In 1974 Mr. Billings retired and turned the school over to his son and daughter-in-law, Dick and Mary Louise. Mary Louise’s sister, Pat Heath-Silva, became a partner in the school at this time also. The school had evolved to become a Performing Arts Center and included classes in Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Pointe, and Musical Theatre as well as special courses in Acting, Vocal, and Modeling. Hundreds of youngsters were lucky enough to attend the Billings “StarMakers” Performing Arts Camps. A remarkable number of students went on to become professional performers or instructors.

In 1992, the Billings took a hiatus from the school. After a number of busy years including college graduations, weddings and grandchildren’s births, Mary Louise began to miss dancing. When her sons came to her and asked where they should take their children for dance classes, Mary Louise knew at once that she wanted to teach them. Dick had a dance floor installed in the family room of their home and the plan was that the three granddaughters would dance with Grandma. Well, one thing led to another, and more and more of our alumni students heard what was going on and by the end of the first year Mary Louise and daughter-in-law, Michelle were teaching about 50 students. We were renting space at our old studio on Farmington Road a couple of days a week. The second season back we had about 200 students and several alumni students back as teachers plus Mary Louise’s sister Pat was back to head up the Musical Theatre department. The entire Billings family is involved, with Dick and daughter-in-law Carrie managing the business, daughter-in-law Michelle heading the Jazz and Hip-Hop departments, and daughter Michelle teaching Tap, Jazz and Hip Hop.

In a huge “leap of faith” we moved into a beautiful new facility in June of 2002, that features three large air-conditioned studios with state of the art sound and theatrical lighting! Add to this a convenient location, near Washington Square, and lots of free parking!

We hear from past students often and we are gratified that they have such fond memories of the time they spent with us. If you would like to be on our Billings Alumni Hot Line please send us an email and tell us what you have been up to. We will do our best to post your information and possibly help you reconnect with old dance friends! This will grow fast if each one of you will pass on the info to an old dance buddy you still keep in contact with. At an open house we did a couple of years ago, we had Ballroom students from the 30’s and 40’s show up! Where are the Billings Swingsters from the 50’s and 60’s and what about your friends from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s??? We look forward to hearing from you!

The Billings Family