Lorna Davalos stretches during a recent class at the Russian Ballet Theatre School.

Tom Perkins | For AnnArbor.com

When she was a young performer in her early 20s, Kathy Scharp’s mother took her and several friends to train with a top Russian ballet instructor. At the first class, he singled out Scharp's group from a class of 40, asking who previously taught them. Nervously, Scharp pointed to her mom.

“We were all kind of scared,” Scharp recalled. “It’s scary to take a class with someone so famous, and when he asked who our teacher was, we thought, 'Oh gosh, is he going to say, What do you think you're doing with these kids?'"

He turned out to be asking for exactly the opposite reason.

“I want to commend you on how you trained them,” Jurgen Schneider, the Russian instructor, told Scharp’s mother, Carol Radovic. The kids were relieved and excited, and it was the start of a long relationship among Schneider, Radovic and Scharp.

Soon after that day, Radovic opened the Ann Arbor Ballet Theatre where Scharp performed and has taught part-time for 30 years. Now Scharp is venturing out on her own. She recently opened the Ypsilanti-based Russian Ballet Theatre School. Classes meet at the Riverside Arts Center in downtown Ypsilanti. A session began Jan. 16 and runs through April 2.

Maria Dziubinski, Jordan Wyatt and Hannah Simon, from left, practice jumps.

Tom Perkins | For AnnArbor.com

Scharp brings her long history in Russian ballet to the endeavor. The style, along with the Italian cecchetti method of ballet, is the most popular form of the art in Michigan, she said. Schneider was the personal trainer for Mikhail Baryshnikov, a famous Russian dancer, and Scharp also trained with Janina Cunova, another name in the Russian ballet world.

Those relationships with top dancers and instructors helped prepare Scharp and her mother for opening the Ann Arbor Ballet Theatre, which quickly established itself in the area. Scharp believes she can see the same success with the Russian Ballet Theatre School.

“My mom’s studio was a great training ground, but I live in Ypsilanti, I’m an Ypsi resident, and when I heard of this opportunity, I was at a point where I was thinking I would like to make this full-time work as much as I can,” Scharp said.

Scharp's career highlights include the lead in Carmen; Titania and Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream; Coffee in The Nutcracker; the Snow Queen in The Nutcracker; and roles in several original works.

Currently the Russian Ballet Theatre School offers classes on Tuesdays and Saturdays for ages 4 and up. The classes are broken up according to age, with two different syllabi for different skill levels.

Lorna Davalos, Jordan Wyatt, Nicasia Reed and Maria Dziubinski, from left, practice during a recent session at the Russian Ballet Theatre School.

Tom Perkins | For AnnArbor.com

Scharp put up a website and passed out fliers around town when the school opened, and she was encouraged by the results. Already the school is breaking even, and she hopes it’s the start of something bigger.

While several schools locally teach the cecchetti method, Scharp and Radovic found themselves gravitating toward the Russian school years ago.

“The Russian ballet training emphasizes on fluidity and more intricate head and arm movements,” Scharp explained. “It’s a very expressive style.” Scharp ended up at the Riverside Art Center after center chairman Barry LaRue pitched the idea of utilizing the facility's studio space for ballet classes.

Scharp's husband, Jake Grimes, contributed carpentry work to get the studio ready for students.

“They worked out a nice agreement on the rent for the time that I’m going to be there, so I’m able to start small, and it’s a beautiful, gorgeous studio,” she said.

Scharp also considers herself fortunate to have her mother operating a bigger school nearby. Because the Russian Ballet Theatre School is new, she doesn’t have enough money to rent a theater for a performance, so Radovic allowed Scharp’s students to perform the Nutcracker with her students at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre in December.

“I’m really lucky that I get to offer my students performing opportunities because we share this same sort of artistic approach to ballet, and she opens her doors to give my kids a taste of performing,” Scharp said.