Ballet Instructor turns injuries in a career

Clara Stanley is an associate ballet professor at the University of Oklahoma who has danced all over the world and has had a total of 3 careers.

Everything she has done has been in the field of dance, she has just had to do something less strenuous on her body. She started her career in the Harkness Ballet in New York in the 60s. She toured all over the world and spent quite a bit of time in South America. During this time, she obtained severe injuries to her knees. Back then, there were no extensive treatment methods like the ones today. Stanley continued dancing, and the physical strain continued to wear on her knees.

Stanley reached a point where her knees pretty much became unusable. This lead her into career number 2. A friend invited her to head a ballet academy in Houston. Being a ballet instructor allows less strain on the body because it is more speaking than demonstrating. She was the principal there for 28 years.

She then decided to take some time for herself and eventually applied for the job at OU, career number 3. Her years of dancing and touring the world allowed her to meet many people and network. With the help of her connections, specifically Mary Margaret Holt, she received the job at OU as an associate professor of ballet. Holt is the head of the dance school at OU and also one of Stanley's dear friends from her dance years.

One of her students, Rose Reida, said how much she respects Stanley and how she is incredibly supportive and everything she says is for the good of the students. Stanley has trained dancers who are now professionals and she continues to do so at OU. She teaches the highest level of technique classes and prepares her students for the professional world of dance.