New leadership for dance department

The Patel Conservatory has a reputation as being the only school in the Tampa area affiliated with a professional dance company.


Peter Stark, an internationally respected ballet instructor, has supervised the Patel Conservatory's Youth Ballet as the director of the Orlando Ballet School. So it makes perfect sense that he now joins the Patel Conservatory as chair of our dance department.


As part of the non-profit Straz Center for the Performing Arts, the Patel Conservatory is only five years old, but has proven itself as a major performing arts institution in its short history.

“This is an opportunity for me to grow this excellent Tampa dance conservatory to be recognized as one of the best and most sought after in the country,” Stark said.

Stark has coached gold medal winners for many International Ballet Competitions including those in New York, Seoul and Helsinki. His students dance in every major American ballet company.

“Peter Stark is one of the finest ballet instructors in the business. While at Orlando Ballet, he was able to grow the school, making it now self-sustaining – and artistically and financially successful. We are excited about this new chapter of dance education at the Patel Conservatory and what it will mean for our hundreds of students,” said Wendy Leigh, vice president of education at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts.

The Patel Conservatory is thrilled to have Stark join us as we continue to grow and offer exceptional educational opportunities to our students.

In July, 2010, Stark will join the the existing Patel Conservatory dance instructor team of  Melissa Stafford, Ashley Hilton, Ivonne Lemus, Glynn Owens, Susan Downey and Amanda Roa.