Bettijane graduated with High Honors from Northeastern University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education. She also holds a Master of Arts Degree in Literature.
She began dancing at the age of three and her love of dance has never diminished. When she was a senior in high school, she was offered a place in Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. On that same day she received an acceptance letter from Northeastern University, informing her of an almost full scholarship to the college. The decision to accept the scholarship is one that she has never regretted. While in college she danced professionally in a Regional Ballet Company. She started her dance school when she was a freshman in college. When she graduated she became a Boston Public School teacher, but continued to teach dance. She was the recipient of two Federal Mini-Grants to introduce public school children to diverse dance forms.
Bettijane has studied dance extensively with master teachers in Boston and New York City, California and Europe. She is Past-President of Dance Masters of America, New England Chapter, as well as the Dance Teachers' Club of Boston, and she is a member of Dance Educators of America. She has taught Master Classes for the major dance organizations, and has been a faculty member for the Boston Dance Teachers National Convention.
She founded Commonwealth Dance Academy when she moved to Walpole in 1984. Over the past 38 years she has seen the school grow. Several of her students have been awarded scholarships to National Ballet Seminars and National Convention Workshops in New York City, Orlando and Las Vegas. Her dancers have won Platinum, Gold and Silver Medals at Regional and National Dance Competitions. Former students have become professional dancers and certified dance teachers. Many of her students have chosen to major or minor in dance in college.
When Bettijane Grey-Robinson reflects on her accomplishments in dance, her greatest joy is in sharing her love of dance with all her students.
ELAINE MANNIX
Elaine was a student of Commonwealth Dance Academy since the age of three, training in dance for 15 years until she left to attend Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. While at MCLA she participated in the school's dance program and Dance Company as a principal choreographer. She has been a member of the CDA faculty for 19 years.
Elaine is a graduate of the the Dance Teachers Club of Boston Dance Education Training Course, and is a certified member of that organization. She has been on the DETC Board of Advisors for the past 10 years, and loves giving back to the program. Elaine also is a certified member of Dance masters of America and Dance Educators of America.She enhances her dance knowledge by attending conventions sponsored by Dance Educators of America, Dance Teachers Club of Boston, Dance Teacher Magazine, and Rhee Gold's Dance Studio Life.
Elaine's innovative choreography has consistently been recognized at competitions on an elite level.
