For Immediate Release

Contact:Deidre Byrne
926 Ellsworth Drive
Silver Spring, MD 20910
301-608-2232
dbyrne@marylandyouthballet.org

Tensia Fonseca’s 85th Birthday
Celebrated at Maryland Youth Ballet
Tribute Offered by Distinguished MYB and ABT Alum Susan Jaffe

Silver Spring, MD – March 20, 2007 -- The faculty and students of the Maryland Youth Ballet (MYB) recently hosted hundreds of alumni and special guests as they celebrated Founding Artistic Director Tensia Fonseca’s 85th birthday. One of MYB’s most distinguished graduates, Susan Jaffe, was guest of honor at the event and in turn honored Mrs. Fonseca with a beautiful tribute of appreciation and offering of inspiration to current students, teachers and dancers joining in the celebration.

“One of the qualities about Mrs. Fonseca was that not only was she good at teaching and mentoring young children, but she was really good at inspiring us; she adored us, each and every one,” reminisced Ms. Jaffe. “Everybody was special in her opinion and she was always generous in expressing the latent talents she saw in us. “

Claimed Ms. Jaffe, “It can (also) be said that Mrs. Fonseca can take credit for influencing dance in the major companies of the dance world today, as quite a few of her students have become high profile names in major ballet companies.” In addition to Ms. Jaffe, Mrs. Fonseca trained other ballet luminaries, including ABT’s Julie Kent, as well as dancers for Joffrey Ballet, New York City Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Orlando Ballet, Sacramento ballet and others.

Maryland Youth Ballet, begun by Tensia Fonseca in the basement of her home in 1971, moved from their 30-year home in Bethesda, MD, to Silver Spring, MD, in January. According to Associate Artistic Director Michelle Lees, who teaches and oversees the pre-professional program, the mission of MYB has always been to provide the highest caliber of training and performance opportunities to prepare young dancers for a career in the performing arts. The school’s internationally renowned faculty attracts students from the metropolitan Washington, DC, area and beyond. MYB has garnered many awards, including most recently, the YAGP 2007 South Carolina Regional “Outstanding School” award, perfectly timed, on the evening of Ms. Fonseca’s birthday celebration.

“Mrs. Fonseca is, in her heart, a true artist, and has shown over and over again that she was always equipped to pass on the torch,” said Ms. Jaffe, who founded Princeton Dance and Theatre Studio in 2003 with fellow MYB alum, Risa Gary Kaplowitz. According to Ms. Jaffe, their inspiration and philosophy for the school are the direct result of Mrs. Fonseca’s methods at MYB. She concluded her remarks by congratulating MYB on their beautiful new studios, where Mrs. Fonseca and the MYB Faculty can “pass that torch and keep it burning and inflaming the hearts of more and more future artists for many, many years to come.”

| 926 Ellsworth Drive | Silver Spring, MD 20910 | (301) 608-2232 |

Maryland Youth Ballet is supported in part by grants from the Maryland State Arts Council, the Montgomery County Executive’s Ball, the Princess Grace Award, and the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County.

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