History

Hazel Boone, a graduate of the Boston Normal School, opened her first dance studio in Boston in 1910. Miss Boone is acknowledged as a pioneer dance educator and hailed for her contribution to the profession.

               Hazel Boone, c. 1920                    The "Hazel Boone School of Dancing", c. 1925

She served as President of the Dance Teachers’ Club of Boston (DTCB) for two terms and with her husband, Harold B. Simpson, raised eight children. When Hazel Boone passed away in 1954, her youngest daughter, Sandra Simpson Philpott, took over the leadership of the studio leaving a successful professional dance career to continue her mother’s work and philosophy. In 1998, the torch was passed again to Sandra Philpott’s daughter, Holly Costa—the newest director of one of the oldest family-run dance studios in the country.

The video below is an 11-minute history of the Hazel Boone Dance Studios, compiled for our Centennial Gala in May 2010.

Hazel Boone Dance Studio Centennial Story video from hphilpott on Vimeo.

Copies of "A Century of Dancing for Joy: The History of the Hazel Boone Dance Studio", a history of the studio in photos and stories, are available for $70 each (includes shipping). Please e-mail Sandy@Philpott.org for ordering information.