81. STUDIO 61
May 25, 2026
Walked by Carnegie Hall in January and saw THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF MUSIC printed along the scaffolding and I couldn’t have agreed more!
“Among the dance studios, always palpitating with music and the gyrations of students, is that of Alys Bentley, who looks upon her dance studio as a soul laboratory. She occupies the celebrated “Studio No. 61” and has been in Carnegie Hall for twenty-three years. To her, dancing has the same connotation that it had to the Greeks: a development of the mind, body and soul.” (Source: The House That Music Built: Carnegie Hall by Ethel Rose Peyser, 1936.)
“… Alys Bentley wanted to retire, so Nimura took over her studio 61 in May 1937, as a base from which to work. In 1940, the Nimura Studio became the Ballet Arts Studio, but also retaining his Nimura Studio name.” (Source: “Sayonara, Yeichi Nimura!” by Glenn M. Loney, Professor of Theatre, City University, on commission for Dance Magazine. Image: Courtesy of Carnegie Hall Archives.)
“Dancers from the Land of the Free and the Brave. The Latest Attraction at Ciro’s: Amerique and Neville, the Sensational American Dancers.” (Source/Image: The Sketch, page 91, October 14, 1925 via Cool Wisdom Books)
Neville Goddard mentioned his friend, Ali-Ben, in “His Eternal Play.” Her studio, he said, was used by Ouspensky and Gurdjieff.