Mrs. Maria Tompkins To All Instructors

One of my favorite quotes from a Mother of Divine Grace Syllabus is "If the soul has in it good, true, beautiful, noble, and heroic images, it will become like those things. Additionally, since whatever is true is also beautiful, an appreciation of the beautiful prepares the way for an appreciation of the true. If children love the beautiful, they will love the truth as truth, when they are older. Thus, even in terms of intellectual formation, fostering the fine arts is important."

I believe classical ballet is one of those fine arts which nourishes the soul through inspiring music, graceful movements and beautiful imagery. 

My love for ballet began when I was a little girl. For seven years during my youth, I studied under the direction of Bearice De Paris from Teatro Colon of Argentina. During this time, I danced with the Florida Gulf Coast Ballet Company and was offered a scholarshp to the Summer Intensive of the School of American Ballet in New York City.              

As an adult, I returned to dance ballet in 2000 and still continue to take classes 3-4 times a week. My teachers have included: Sasha Yapparov, an Honored Artist of the Ukraine from the Bolshoi Theatre and Sarasota Ballet; Julio Montano from Ballet de Camaguey, Cuba and Ballet National del Peru; Erkki Tan from the Moscow State Institute of Theatrical Art and Tampa Ballet; and Carol Lee also from the Tampa Ballet and author of three books on ballet and dance.

 My two youngest daughters were my first students receiving their first formal ballet training at home, and since 2006 I have been blessed to be the ballet teacher at JMJ. The JMJ ballet dancers have performed at the annual Evening of the Arts at the Eleanor Dempsey Performing Arts Center at the Bishop McLoughlin High School from 2009-12 and at St. Anthony's Family Center from 2013.

Personal Background 

I graduated in 1981 with Honors from St. Petersburg Junior College with an Associates of Arts degree in Architecture and was a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. From 1978 to 1984, I worked as an architectural draftsperson.

Jack, my loving husband, and I were married in 1982 and blessed with eight children. We have homeschooled since 1994.

Time has flown by as our five oldest children have graduated from college with honors and four of them have married. We have been joyfully blessed with 12 grandchildren who are also being homeschooled by their parents :)

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