Contributor Janice Barringer was raised in Florida and received her early training in ballet, jazz, tap and acrobatics from Edith and Bill Royal. Upon deciding to focus on ballet, she moved to New York City and traveled to Europe where she studied with leading teachers in the field.
Janice danced professionally for many years before becoming a ballet teacher and writer. She has written for Pointe, Dance, Dance Teacher, and Dance Spirit Magazines, and is the author of 9 cover stories for Dancer Magazine. Her first book, The Pointe Book, has given her a reputation around the world as being a leading authority in this field. An updated third edition was published in May, 2012. She also is the co-author with Thalia Mara of another book on pointe work called On Pointe. In addition to detailed information about working en pointe, it has a history of the first International Ballet Competition in the United States which is held in Jackson, Mississippi, every four years.
Janice has written a ballet syllabus, produced by Music Works Unlimited, complete with corresponding CD’s and DVD’s for each grade. It is specifically created for the dancing school teacher. The last four years she was employed at Pace University in New York City as a ballet instructor. She now spends most of the year in her native Florida teaching at South Beach Dance Academy in Daytona Beach returning frequently to New York, as well as teaching as a guest instructor in studios, at workshops and conventions around the world.