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LAMBERTVILLE: Roxey: The man behind the ballet

By John Tredrea, Special Writer
   LAMBERTVILLE — Roxey Ballet put an impressive feather in its cap this Thanksgiving Day, when Roxey dancers performed on “Good Morning, America” and during the Philadelphia’s parade.
   ”It was a great experience,” said artistic director, Mark Roxey, who also founded the company. “It’s usually big-city ballet companies that get to do things like that.”
   That may be a bit too modest, for Roxey Ballet also performed during President Barach Obama’s first inauguration in 2009.
   Mr. Roxey, a longtime professional dancer himself, grew up in Brooklyn, New York.
   ”As a young guy, I was a street dancer, then went on to study with the Joffrey Ballet and Dayton Ballet.”
   He’s danced more than ballet. “I danced with Frank Sinatra,” Mr. Roxey said.
   Did he also get to actually meet Mr. Sinatra?
   ”Oh, sure,” Mr. Roxey said. “I hung out with Frank. And with the Temptations and The Four Tops, too. It was great.”
   Roxey Ballet is about a lot more than performing, he said. “Education is a major part of our mission and vision. We do performances in public and private schools. We do lecture series on ballet, one-on-one mentorships, and have dance programs for people with disabilities.
   ”We have a boutique of many different types of activities. What it’s really all about is bringing dance to places where dance usually doesn’t go.”
   The company commissions New Jersey-based choreographers for everything from “sophisticated evening concerts to grass-roots work in schools,” he said.
   ”We offer lots of free tickets to those who can’t afford to come to a performance and do fundraisers for many organizations, like Fisherman’s Mark here in Lambertville.”
   He views dance as more than an art form. “What we’re about is trying to use dance for the right reasons,” he said.
   ”Dance is at its best when it’s helping other people and lifting us up, helping us be ourselves in a better way. The question for us is: ‘how can we generate good outcomes using dance as a vehicle?’”
   THAT SAID, Roxey has announced auditions for both male and female professional dancers. The company will be offering contracts ranging from 19 to 30 weeks and previous professional experience is required. New Jersey artists are encouraged to apply.
   Auditions are taking place this month and in January and are by appointment only.
   Interested candidates should send a letter of inquiry and resumes to [email protected]. No phone calls. Learn more at www.roxeyballet.org.
   Roxey Ballet, incorporated in 1995 as a New Jersey nonprofit organization, is supported in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; The Wachovia Foundation, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, The Bunbury Company, The Hunterdon County Cultural and Heritage Commission and The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, in addition to individual donors.
   Roxey Ballet is located at 243 N. Union St., Lambertville.