81. STUDIO 61

May 25, 2026

Walked by Carnegie Hall in January and saw THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF MUSIC written 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.)

“Dancers from the Land of the Free and the Brave. The Latest Attraction at Ciro’s: Amerique and Neville, the Sensational American Dancers.” (Source: The Sketch, page 91, October 14, 1925)

Neville Goddard mentioned his friend, Ali-Ben, in “His Eternal Play.” Her studio, he said, was used by Ouspensky and Gurdjieff. Knowing that he was a dancer himself, makes it easy to understand this connection.

Related: DANCER, THE BIG FISH, DANCE TO BELONG, DANCE LESSONS