The Lillie School of Highland Dance provides instruction in all
the traditional Scottish Highland Dances as well as some choreography.
Centered in Essex Junction, Vermont, our students come from all over the state
to classes in the Essex, Barre, and Richmond areas.
We currently have over 50 students ranging in age from 6 to none-of-your-business!
Several Moms dance with their sons and daughters, and we have a few dads who are pipers.
PRICES:
regular lessons at our home studio in Essex Juction are $7.00
...additional family members in the same lesson are $5.00
(so a family of 3 would cost $17.00 each lesson)
"away" lessons in Graniteville (Barre) are $8.00
...additional family members in the same lesson are $6.00
(so a family of 3 would cost $20.00 each lesson)
We also have classes at the Racquet's Edge in Essex Juction.
prices are similar, call for class openings and costs.
All group lessons are 1 1/2 hours (except Racquet's Edge)
Private Lessons @ the studio are $10.00 for the first 1/2 hour
and $5.00 for each additional 1/2 hour.
Semi-Private (up to 3 people) are $8.00 per student for the first 1/2 hour
and $3.00 for each additional 1/2 hour.
Private or Semi at other locations are arranged individually.
(Want to fly me to Hawaii for a lesson? We'll talk about it!)
We currently have classes during the "after school" hours, although some
classes may start meeting on the weekend since my college schedule isn't nice this semester.
The Teachers
The Lillie School of Highland Dance was born in the early '80's
Mary Lillie, my Mom, passed her teaching exam (Very tough, by the way)
with the Brittish Association of Teachers of Dance. I assisted her till
I was 16 and passed my own exam, making me a partner instead of assistant.
We lived in Colorado then, and taught in Longmont, Estes Park, and Fort Collins.
At that time we were members of the The Rocky Mountain Highland Dancers.
I went off to college in Wyoming and had a few more students there, and IBM
moved my parents to Vermont (wasn't that sneaky?) Fortunately, there were other
teachers in Colorado, and two of our old students are still teaching there!
I moved around a few times, found a husband, and eventually dragged him back to Vermont.
Here I rejoined my mother and the dance school started growing from just a few kids & moms
to over 60 students at last count. Mary's a registered nurse in her "real" job,
and I'm a college student (again, not still...) at Vermont Tech. in Randolph.
St. Andrew's Highland Dancers of Vermont is a non-profit group to support dancers and their families.
They sponsor competitions, workshops, medals tests, performances and all kinds of stuff.
We encourage all Highland dancers in the area to be members regardless of who their teacher is.
Last I checked, we were the only active Highland teachers in the state,
although there are others just across the New York, New Hampshire, Mass. and Canadian Borders.
Assumming I'll update this page regularly, our next performance will be at the
Robert Burns' Dinner put on in Barre by the St. Andrew's Society of Vermont in January.
It'll be a great show, with almost all of our dancers from the littlest cuties
to the most advanced Premier dancers performing.
Where to get dance supplies
There are several places who can provide dance items such as shoes and costumes,
but we always recommend Highland X Press, run by Mary-Beth Miller-Klien
out of Kansas City MO. She still has the best selection and service of anyone by far.
This is the link to her web site Highland X Press
or call her at (816) 746-6750.
More about Scottish Highland Dancing
There's so much to tell... no, we're not Riverdance, although there are similarities.
We are members of FUSTA
(the Federation of United States Teachers and Adjudicators for Highland Dance)
You can reach us by e-mail if you have any questions at all.
Send all questions to Mary Lillie
or
AmyBeth Lillie Fredricksen .
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Updated 7/27/2003!