Jersey City Ballet just made a major upgrade by moving from a small storefront at 342 Monmouth St. to The Brunswick School in Downtown Jersey City. The opening was celebrated on June 9^th at a ribbon cutting that was attended by Mayor Steve Fulop.

Director and owner, Judith Elins, grew up in Montclair and started dancing at the young age of six. Her passion for dance became so strong she knew she had to become a teacher.  With countless certifications, Elins happily strapped on her pointe shoes on opening day of her new dance studio, located at 189 Brunswick St., Jersey City.

The Brunswick School is currently home to a community center, a dance hall, a taekwondo gym and now, a ballet studio. After previously being located in a much smaller storefront, Elins jumped at the chance to move into the larger space. She commented, “It was a good place to start, everyone thought it had a lot of character, but then we had the opportunity to move into this Brunswick center, which has been fantastic because as you can see there's a lot of like-minded businesses in the building."

Elins, who moved from Montclair in 2000, found a home in Jersey City with an urban, diverse community, shimmering in the arts. To quote her directly, she said: "I love it here. When I came from Montclair I didn't know anything about Jersey City. I like everything about it. It's urban, plus there's so much diversity...a lot of towns say they're diverse but I feel Jersey City truly is.”

Elins has since lived in Downtown Jersey City for the last 15 years and said, "I've been working (and) teaching a lot for other people and I thought why not teach for myself, it's something I've always wanted to do. It's great to be able to say, 'This is how I envision my school, this is how I would like my students to learn, this is what my mission is.’"

Jersey City Ballet offers dance courses for all levels, including jazz and hip-hop fundamentals and gyrokinesis – a free-flowing technique that puts an emphasis on long circular movements and benefits posture and alignment.

Dance your heart out, Jersey City!

Find out more on what is happening in the Jersey City community by reading our articles about all the Jersey City events and also on what fun things there are to see and do during your next visit.

Watch the ribbon cutting here: https://youtu.be/QbL7sdRiLoU