Table of Contents
Debbie Boyle has been dancing her whole life — and for the last 35 years, she has passed that passion onto the countless students who have made it through the doors of Ballet Arts Centre.
But on May 17, Boyle closed the doors on her long-time business in order to finally retire.
“This is something I’ve been doing six days a week all these years,” Boyle said. “Keeping up with it is taking up all the time I have.”
But it wasn’t an easy decision.
“I’m in my 70s so I’m up there,” she said, with a laugh. “This is the most difficult thing I have ever done, but my heart told me it was time. It’s very bittersweet. It was a decision that was very difficult and I understand a lot of people will be sad. The kids who come here…this is like a second home for them.”
Boyle said the past five years have been challenging for the business ever since the COVID-19 pandemic. Many students, she said, didn’t come back.
“I almost closed in 2020 when COVID hit,” she said. “But then I decided not to. I did know that when I got to 35 years, I would call it quits.”
At the end of last year, Boyle said she made the final decision. She didn’t announce it to students until March.
A heartfelt letter from Boyle to her families appears on the Ballet Arts Centre website, speaking to the years she’s given to the school and her students.
“Looking back on these 35 years, my heart overflows with gratitude. The memories of inspiring classes and breathtaking performances will remain in my heart forever. But the best part of this journey has been watching each young dancer grow into a confident, expressive individual, carrying a piece of BAC with them wherever they go,” part of the letter reads. “To every dancer, family, teacher, and staff member who has been part of BAC – I thank you from the bottom of my heart! You have made this dream richer than I could have ever imagined. Though this chapter is closing, it is my hope that the love, lessons, and legacy of BAC will continue, always, to dance on in all of us!”
Boyle said it was the toughest letter to write.
“This school has been my life, my passion and my love,” she said. “I would describe it as my third child, the one you give all your attention to. It’s been wonderful. It’s had its ups and downs, its challenges, but I feel my life has been very full, very rich because of these kids. This is what I’ll miss the most.”
A legacy
Boyle is a long-time Winchester resident, arriving in town as a eighth-grader. She attended middle and high school, dancing on and off over the years, before heading off to college.
She studied dance with Shirley Terrill, whom she called her mentor, in Lowell before studying in other parts of Boston. Boyle went to college at UMass Lowell, earning a degree in psychology, while still pursuing her passion for dance.
“I always had it in my life,” she said. “Shirley is the one who asked me to teach for her. I did that in the mid-70s. It was always part of my life.”
Boyle said she has a very “eclectic” background, but dance was always there. It was then she gave in and made it her career, too.
In 1990, Boyle opened Ballet Arts Centre on the top floor of the VFW hall on River Street.
“It was a great space,” she said. “My husband made portable mirrors and I carried a portable record player. I did an open house and that first year, I had almost 100 kids. It was quite amazing!”
The space worked for about one year. Boyle packed up the business and moved into a building across from Town Pantry, where she remained for an additional three years.
That’s when she met Brian Milauskas, the owner of Kidstock, who moved into that same building.
“We became fast friends,” she said. “He owned a kids theatre group and I had the dance school and they sort of meshed.”
The two then decided to make the move to 50 Cross St. in 1994, where they’ve been ever since.
Boyle has taught ballet, tap and jazz over the years adding other classes, such as creative movement and pointe. She said after that first year, the school has doubled almost every year.
“It just grew and grew and grew,” she said. “People just started coming here, mostly by word of mouth. I’d say by year seven, I was having trouble keeping up. After a while, I could see that I couldn’t keep doing it all by myself so I started bringing people in to teach classes and be here in the office. We became a very busy school.”
Until COVID.
“We didn’t get back to what we had,” Boyle said. “COVID made a big difference in everything.”
What’s next?
Although the doors closed on May 17, Boyle plans on offering a few more classes to older students in June. Then it really is over.
What’s the plan after that?
“That’s the question of the year,” Boyle said. “I’m very nervous about what this will mean for me.”
Boyle said she’s always been in the planning stages of something, whether it was scheduling classes or getting ready for a show.
“I’m not sure how I’m going to feel,” she said. “Everyone tells me I’m going to love it. I guess I have to wait until fall to see how I feel.”
Boyle said Milauskas is taking over the Ballet Arts Centre space and a new dance school — Ensemble Dance Collective — is coming, along with a new arts center. Most of her faculty and office staff will be part of the new dance school.
“I think that’s the saving grace,” Boyle said. “I requested having something my kids could opt into and he is honoring my wish.”
Other than that, Boyle said she wants to spend time with her grandchildren and getting to the hobbies she hasn’t had time to enjoy.
Daughter Lauren Boyle, who is the school’s office manager, said she was 100% behind her mom when she made the decision, adding she’s worked hard her entire life.
“This is her legacy,” Lauren Boyle said. “She can go out with her head held high. I want her to enjoy the fruits of what she’s done.”
Boyle smiles at her daughter’s words. She called it “a privilege” to have taught the hundreds of kids who have gone through the school’s doors.
“When I opened the doors to that little hall, I never thought this is what it would become,” she said. “It took a life of its own.
“You know, I’ve worked really hard over the years,” Boyle continued. “I wanted this school to be the best it could be. This school has been a success due to the people we have here, who are committed to the school, to the kids who come, to the families who are here. It’s an institution.”
