We adhere to our mission of creating a “community based school” educating our students to the many ways in which a proper dance education can inform their lives: creating life-long lovers of dance whether a student chooses to dance professionally or whether they dance simply for the joy of it.
Our instructors constantly challenge students to hone their natural talents and encourage them to compete against their own sense of excellence. JLDC is, by conviction a “school that creates the well-rounded, diverse dancer” with a curriculum tailored to develop in our students proficiency and versatility.
Building on a classical foundation, our students train in modern and contemporary peaking their intellectual curiosity, self-motivation, and capacity for hard work. We encourage students to find their uniqueness and what dance means to them. We believe that creating, composing and performing are important tools for our students to develop and discover talent.
Ours is a gathered community, in which students with different interests, talents, and perspectives come to express themselves. We are dedicated to serving our mission as a community based school. Our Outreach Program students perform annually at many citywide cultural arts events, fairs, and for Newton’s retirement communities.
Shawn Mahoney began his ballet, tap, and jazz training at the Joanne Langione Dance Center and his early performing career with Jose Mateo’s Ballet Theatre in Boston, MA. As an apprentice, Shawn danced for American Ballet Theatre before joining Boston Ballet. At Boston Ballet, Shawn performed in Petipa, Balanchine, Kylian, Forsythe, Bejart and others. Shawn performed as a chosen member of “Tharp!”, a national and international touring company directed by Twyla Tharp. Ms. Tharp invited Shawn to be part of the creative and choreographic process for her Broadway hit “Movin’ Out” and performed in Tharp’s “Red, White, and Blues”. Shawn performed with the Suzanne Farrell/Balanchine Project, Sean Curran Company, Washington Ballet, and Bale Estado de Goias. As an educator, Shawn has taught internationally for Festa de Danca in Sao Paulo and Bermuda Civic Ballet. Currently, Shawn is on faculty at Emerson College, instructing dance classes to actors and musical theatre students and is a teacher and lecturer at Days in the Arts. Shawn founded Mahoney Agency, representing dancers for national engagements for the Nutcracker Ballet. Shawn is a sought out mentor for emerging artists and choreographers in ballet and contemporary dance.