THE LYDIA JOHNSON DANCE SCHOOL
Ms. Johnson’s passion for encouraging children to create dances led to the founding of the Lydia Johnson Dance School in 1998. The School started with 5 young dancers in a single Choreography Workshop and has expanded to 130 students dancing and creating their own dances. Choreography is an art and a skill and our curriculum at LJD was developed by Ms Johnson who has years of experience choreographing professionally. Our structured and in-depth approach has been constantly revised and expanded in response to the interests and needs of our creative young dancers. The totally unique LJD Dance Camp was soon added. The warm community of dancers of all ages, family-centered sharing of work, and the focus on both excellence and creativity has brought acclaim to the school. The LJD School Student Company allows our creative dancers to explore dance making in depth and perform their own works more frequently.
Ms. Johnson lives in South Orange, where she brought up her three children - Evan, Zander and Phoebe. All three attended South Orange/Maplewood schools and graduated from Columbia High School in Maplewood. Phoebe is a law student at Temple Law, Evan is a MSW therapist and a young father living in Brooklyn , and Zander is a filmmaker in LA.
Although the professional company rehearses and performs in NYC, Lydia’s deep roots in New Jersey and her commitment to bringing creative, non- commercial dance education to our local towns makes the LJD School’s two locations at The Burgdorff Performing Arts Center in Maplewood Village and St. Andrew's Church in South Orange Village, the perfect fit for our not-for-profit school. The LJD School gives $20,000 annually in scholarships so that every child who wants to dance can participate. We have a Teen Internship Program as well, which mentors teens in teaching and leadership skills.
"The LJD environment allows artistic growth and self-confident,
individual growth."
Rich F., LJD Dad