Lisa Benavides / Artistic Director

Lisa Benavides started dancing at a very young age in her native country of Guatemala. She began her formal training in classical ballet in South Florida with Charles Russell, Martha Mar and Victoria Leigh. Ms. Benavides started performing at the very young age of 12 with the highly acclaimed, “Body and Soul Dance Theatre” under the direction of Barbara Sloan. She later coninued her training and performace experience as a member of South Florida’s only regional ballet company, “Fort Lauderdale Ballet Classique” under the direction of Magda Auñon. Ms. Benavides has attended Boston Ballet, Aspen Ballet and Richmond Ballet summer intensives and at the age of 19 she began dancing for the renowned Artistic Director and Choreographer Richard Devaux in Guatemala City. Under his direction, Ms. Benavides participated in two seasons with Company and performed in the “Paiz International Festival for the Arts” in Antigua, Guatemala. She later was invited to join one of the first Contemporary Ballet Company established in Guatemala under the direction of Ballet Mistress Lissetth Aguilar Stockli.

In 2003 Ms. Benavides moved to Italy where she attended dance workshops at La Scuola di Danza Classica in Florence Italy and Master Classes at the prestigious Teatro alla Scala in Milan. She has had the privilege of working with South Florida’s finest teachers as well as internationally respected Dance Masters and choreographers in Central America and in Europe. Ms. Benavides has been teaching and choreographing the art of classical ballet in local dance academies for the past 6 years. She enjoys passing on all her knowledge to her students and enjoys sharing with them the true passion behind this beautiful art. Ms. Benavides holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance a Minor in Interior Design and is an American Ballet Theatre Certified Teacher in Primary through Level 3 of the ABT National Teacher Training Curriculum.

Today Ms. Benavides is the Artistic Director of Dance Academy of Boca Raton home of Academy Ballet Company and instructs students from 2 years of age to pre-professional in Classical Ballet Technique and Pointe.