About Us
Village Dance Company, formerly known as Village Dance Theatre, was founded in 1974 at the Little Colonel Playhouse in Pewee Valley. Denee Bannister established the studio as a branch of the Lyndon Ballet School, which was founded in 1960 by her mother, Pat Gano. For several years, Village Dance Theatre served as the ballet school for Waldeck Academy of the Arts. In August 2010, Miss Denee relocated the studio to its first full-time home at 5907 West Hwy 22.
From 1985 to 2022, as the director and instructor at Village Dance Theatre, Miss Denee produced and directed children's adaptations of beloved story ballets for the annual recital, including Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, The Wizard of Oz, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, and many more. In the fall of 2012, the studio became home to the Young Dancers Company, which offered additional classes and performance opportunities for our intermediate and advanced students.
Village Dance Theatre was renowned for providing classical ballet training in a loving and nurturing environment. Miss Denee inspired her students with the motto, “Dance with your heart, and the feet will follow.” You can still connect with her through the old Village Dance Theatre Facebook page.
Over the years, the faculty has included several exceptional teachers. In 2016, Miss Kayleigh, Miss Denee’s granddaughter, returned to the faculty and became the owner and director upon Miss Denee's retirement in 2022. Now known as Village Dance Company, Miss Kayleigh continues the legacy of quality dance training in a nurturing atmosphere, bringing her unique training, ideas, creativity, and professionalism to the studio.
Our experienced ballet instructors bring passion and expertise in various styles, offering personalized guidance to help you grow with confidence and artistry.
Meet Ms. Kayleigh, the vibrant force behind a new generation of talent right in her hometown! She's thrilled to be back, bringing her passion for dance and musical theatre to the next wave of aspiring artists. Kayleigh double majored in dance and musical theatre at Western Kentucky University, and her journey has been nothing short of spectacular!
She spent two seasons as a company member with "The Lost Colony," America’s longest-running outdoor drama, before taking her talents to ZFX Flying Effects, where she created choreography and performed in fabulous Las Vegas and at Ball State University. After that, she took a big leap to NYC, where she dazzled audiences for a decade as a professional dancer and choreographer.
Kayleigh's impressive résumé includes being commissioned by Jazz Choreography Enterprises for exciting projects, performing and setting choreography for the Dancers Studio Foundation, and co-producing the inaugural Brooklyn Dance Festival! She also ran the Jeté summer dance camps and Jeté Dance Center, where she trained a host of successful students who danced with the Joffrey Ballet and the New York City Ballet!
With a remarkable 100% success rate in helping her students gain admission to their first-choice high schools and colleges, Kayleigh has alumni thriving at Brigham Young University, Berklee Conservatory for Dance, SUNY Purchase, and Oklahoma University, just to name a few! But it doesn't stop there—her former students are out there making a difference as missionaries, doctors, nurses, teachers, and loving mothers, spreading kindness and positivity in the world every day.
At the heart of Kayleigh’s teaching is a deep respect for the spirit of each dancer. She believes in nurturing not just beautiful dancers, but also great people who will shine both on and off the stage! Get ready for an incredible journey with Ms. Kayleigh!
Introducing the amazing Cecilia Ferguson-Bell! With over a decade of experience performing, choreographing, and teaching in the vibrant dance scene of Chicago, she returned to her beloved hometown of Louisville, KY, in 2019, ready to inspire the next generation of dancers. Cecilia holds a BFA in Performing Arts with a Dance Concentration from Western Kentucky University, where she was honored with the Doris Owen Dance Scholarship for her talents.
While in Chicago, Cecilia trained and performed with a variety of dance companies and even founded her own, the All the Pieces Matter Dance Project! As the Youth Program Director at Visceral Dance Center, she poured her heart into nurturing young dance artists. Her choreography has been celebrated far and wide, even snagging the grand prize at the College of DuPage’s Choreography Competition!
Cecilia has an impressive list of performance credits that will leave you in awe—she's danced with Ballet Civitavecchia in Rome, dazzled audiences with aerial performances at MGM Las Vegas, and toured Germany with artists from around the globe during the Kieler Woche festival in 2015. Plus, she self-produced her very own evening-length dance concert back in 2013!
Known for her nurturing yet technically demanding teaching style, Cecilia challenges her students to dive deep and connect emotionally, helping them become authentic and captivating artists. She can’t wait to kick off her twenty-second season teaching ballet, modern, jazz, and pointe, and she’s ready to make this year the best one yet!
Meet Piper McConnell! She's gearing up for her third year teaching at Village Dance Company, where she has already made a fantastic impact over the past two years. Piper isn't just a teacher; she's a proud alum of VDC, having danced here for an incredible 13 years! After honing her craft at the Youth Performing Arts School, she graduated in 2022 and is also a proud alum of the Governor’s School for the Arts, class of 2020.
But that's not all! Piper is a vibrant multimedia artist, known for her captivating dance films and innovative public art installations. She loves blending dance with other art forms to create unique experiences. Recently, she showcased her talent by performing with the Louisville Collective Laboratory in their spring 2024 performance.
Piper's passion shines through as she strives to create a positive, welcoming, and educational dance environment for dancers of all levels. With her enthusiasm and creativity, she's here to make dance fun for everyone!
Dance is a powerful form of self-expression and transformation. Through movement, we connect with our body, emotions, and inner rhythm—cultivating confidence, joy, and balance in every part of life.
Join a vibrant and supportive community of ballet dancers who share your passion for movement and creativity. Our dance community fosters connection and growth.