Holly Gruver
MANAGING DIRECTOR
As a child, Holly danced in the US with Hopkins Dance Center and Ballet Arts Minnesota. She competed, performed and trained on scholarship at Interlochen Arts Academy, Gus Giordanno Jazz Dance Chicago, Broadway Dance Center in New York, and has won numerous awards competing in ballet, contemporary and jazz styles.
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She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts (honors) in Dance from Southern Methodist University in Dallas and received scholarships to train with Martha Graham and Alvin Ailey Summer Intensives in New York City.
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She has performed around the world including the original works of Nathan Montoya, Joe Orlando, Ann Reinking, Martha Graham, George Balanchine, as well as original works at the International Arts Festival in Schladming Austria. In 1997 she began intensive training with Lou Conte Dance Studios in Chicago, home of Hubbard Street Jazz Dance.
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Holly hung up her dance shoes for a period of valuable years raising her 4 kids with one hand remaining in the dance arena teaching and providing workshops from time to time.
Holly has been teaching dance and fitness to all ages since she was sixteen years old and has choreographed for numerous schools, churches and University productions as well as musicals in the US and South Africa including original works with Meadows School of the Arts in Dallas, Esther, Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan, and The King and I. Holly has enjoyed working with the Joburg Ballet Academy students as well as with Elite College of Excellence.
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Holly presently works with pre-professional dance students in the Johannesburg area as the Founder and Managing Director of Johannesburg Arts Conservatory (JAC). Through JAC, she is passionate about providing a positive arena for dancers to cultivate their love for dance as they work to their greatest potential.
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Over the years, JAC has developed into a training space to inspire and develop high level dance technique with passion and clarity. Holly's approach in the dance division begins with the variety of training she has received in both the Vaganova and Cecchetti methods of ballet, Graham and Limon Contemporary, as well as Fusion and Classic Jazz. JAC is more than a conservatory with forward thinking -- it is a place to call home. Holly is passionate about collaborating with the right people who want to give students the advantage of international exposure and broaden the dance arts culture in South Africa.
While Holly mainly focuses her teaching at JAC in the dance arena in Contemporary and Jazz styles, she has a passion for teaching fitness, health and total body balance to both the dance professional and any student wanting to become more fit. ​Holly has trained in the fitness arena her whole life and has a passion for teaching fitness, health and total body balance through Pilates as well. The goal of combining the principles of Pilates breathing, precision, and flow to dance or fitness assists in moving to Syncopated rhythms, Centering through the core for strong support and then Sweating out all the toxins for better physical health.
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