Anne Capozzi Bena of San Mateo. Mrs. Bena, a native New Jersey, realized early in her dance career that her true calling was to teach and direct and she resigned her post with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet to follow that path. She founded the Peninsula Ballet Theatre; the first professional resident ballet company on the Peninsula, a company now in its 15th season. She has developed a unique style of movement using a forward placement of the skeleton which results in more ease of movement and enhances the ability of her students. Mrs. Bena has taught dancers who staff: the Stuttgart Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, Joffrey and Frankfurt Ballet companies. Mrs. Bena has also served as an administrator and teacher for the Washington (D.C.) Ballet, as resident choreographer of the Park Theater in New Jersey, and the director and teacher of Ballet America of New Jersey. The artistic quality and critical acclaim that have resulted are due solely to Mrs. Bena’s ability to draw from each member the highest quality of performance, the very best that the individual can produce, often surpassing that individual’s perception of the possible!
