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DEATHS FUNERALSPeggy Willis-Aarnio - ' ........Dr Margaret E. Willis. PhD: Professor Peggy Willis-Aarnio of Panama City Beach, known to her friends as Peggy, passed away at Gulf Coast Medical Hospital at 11:30 PM.January 9th 2016.%Peggy and her family arrived in Panama CityBeach in June of 1958 after her father, CW04 Walter H Dozier, completed anaccompanied tour with theUSN 6th fleet in Naples, Italy While in Naples.Peggy w as exposed toBallet instruction, which would be the defining event for the rest of her life.In Panama City, she began Ballet studies with Virginia Sweet Mrs. Sweet, and her Chiropodist Husband. John, had established their school in the Cove.’- and were both local legends in the arts and dance. Peggy was a “natural and excelled both in the school and in dance and theatrical activities first at Beach Elementary School, then at Jinks Middle School and. finally at Bay HighWhile at Bay High, she was Miss Tommy Thomas Chevrolet in the PanamaCity Beauty Pageant, and she and her partner, the late Marvin Elmore, w’on the Southeastern Ballroom Championship in Atlanta.She graduated from Bay High with the Class of 1966, and was accepted to the Classical Ballet Fine Arts Program at TexasChristian University (TCU) in Ft. Worth, TX. This was the next step in what would become her lifetimevocation.1947 and at that time, TCU was considered to have had the finest Classical Ballet IVaining Program atthe university level in the US There, Peggy excelled in her Ballet Studies, and also found that she had a gift for Choreography. In one instance, when her sister, Sheila, was entered in the Miss Panama City Beauty Pageant in 1968, it was Peggy’s choreography of Espana for Sheila that enabled her to winFirst Place in the Talent Division T his was the beginning of a collaborationand a dance bond that wasto last a lifetime.Also, w-hile in Ft Worth,Peggy joined the Ft.Worth Ballet where she w as promoted to Soloist. While at TCU, in her graduate years, she and her classmates were able to see some imported films of Ballet artists performing for the Kirov and theBolshoi Theatres in Russia. What they were able to dowas absolutely spectacular and beyond anything theWfjjg TrrTCU students were capableof. Peggy made a promise to herself, she wras going to learn how to get these results with her American students... That became her dream.She graduated in 1970 with a BFA in Classical Ballet, and in 1972 with anMFA in Theatre Arts with an emphasis in Dance in June, 1972 from TCU.In September of 1972,Peggy' arrived at TexasTech University (TTU) in*Lubbock. Texas, with her shiny newr MFA, to take on her new job as AssociateProfessor of Classical Ballet in the Department of Physical Education andDance.Ironically in the Fallof 1972. her department at TTU received a letter from a man named John Barker from New York City,announcing that he knew' about the Russian TeachingProgram and he would be offering a course on it toteachers to be held in NewYork over the Christmas Holiday. None of her peers seemed interested, so she grabbed the letter and said she w'ould go “check it out Little did she know that she w’as about to take the firststep to actually achieve her dream and more.As they say, The Rest Is History”... She immediatelyW ' Ifsaw the value in whatBarker had to offer, and for the next seven vears. she was in New York evervwChristmas Break, everv_ . .r-' WSpring Break and every Summer until she had studied everv vear of thew wRussian Syllabus at least twice. As she finished eachbegan to notice thesuperior qualities of her students, and she also began to do bigger balletperformances to give herstudents better, moreprofessional performing experiences and to get her program more national' attention. She produced her own version of Copelia andBallet called Dracula, The Ballet, which was broadcast nationwide on PBS in 1981 She was also now starting to attract the attention of performers and other dance professionals from Russia who were curious about this young American who seemed to be on to their samewavelength. Ultimately,this resulted in her beinginvited by Valery Panov and his famous Ballerina wife, Galina Panova to Stage and Produce Valery ’s new, world premiere production of Giselle at 'ITU' Now the door was finally opening for her, and after working with Pnma Ballerina GalinaMezentseva in 1990 to1992, she was invited at theinsistence of Mezentseva to come to the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia to finish her Ballet Pedagogical studies, at the source ofthe knowledge of Teaching Method, in 1993.While she was in St. Petersburg, she met Prof. Askold Makarov, the director of one of the major Ballet companies ofRussia, who was lookingfor someone to present hiscompany on tour in NorthAmerica Peggy acceptedthe challenge and a greatprofessional marriage wasborn, which, by the time itwas over 21 vears later, had*used three major Russian Companies to bnng true Russian Classical Ballet to over 420 venues all over North America and Western Europe.How could she follow up on something like this0 Byworking with and directingthe efforts of Prima Ballerina. Mezentseva and Master Pianist. Ludmilla Vlasenko, Peggy scripted, produced and directed the only comprehensive videorecord of the complete Russian Ballet Teaching system presented in an eight DVT) set along with study guides, and an eight volume set of music CD’s to provide the first ever examples of music of the correct tempo and character for all the exercises of the eight year teaching syllabus.In the process of doingthis project, she took one more page out of AgripinnaVaganova’s Playbook (shewas the teacher who first codified the svllabus)... by starting a series of Annual International TeachingCongresses to helpbetter “spread the word” worldwide about teaching method. Vagonava first proposed this in the 1930’s but Communist world politics wouldn’t permit itPeggy finally made it work with Congress number One in 1997 in Lubbock TX.The most recent Congress,number 17, was in Rockwall, TX in July, 2015.During this time, she also took the time to do the research for and write the first and only EnglishLanguage Professional Biography of TeacherAgripina Vaganova. More recently she was working on producing a second eight CD Music Set, and she was writing Book III in the How To Teach Ballet Series, when she died.Did I mention also, that she was designated as the North American Representative of the International Society of Russian Style Ballet,Headquartered in London (a position she held until the Society was disbandedin 2008 with the death ofits Founder AND Director, Anna Lendrum). She also found the time to open and direct her own ballet school, The Conservatory of Classical Ballet inLubbock TX in 1979.In 2003, after 31 years “in the Saddle,” including 21 years as the Head of the Dance Division, she retired as Professor Emeritus from the Department of Theatre and Dance. Upon her retirement from 'ITU, she moved back “home” to Panama City Beach and brought her Conservatory with her. The new school was built and opened for business on the Beach in August, 2004. The school was to be her “gift” to this community to inspire the next generation of boys and girls to seek a career in the Arts (especially in Dance) just as she was inspired by Virginia Sweet. She continued to support it and teach the advanced classes until 2014 when operations were curtailed and finally suspended due to health concerns.This is a long list ofaccomplishments fora sweet, honest, hard working incredibly imaginative and intelligent w'oman from the Panhandleof Florida. Sadly, there isv *so much more that should be mentioned, but this article is already long. Her spirit, professionalism, enthusiasm, dedication and energy will surely be missed.Peggy w'as preceded in death by her father, CW04V rWalter H Dozier and her mother, Margaret S. Dozier. She is survived bvVher beloved husband, her Twin Flame, Major Paul R. Aarnio, USAF, Ret., and her sister, Sheila M. Kleiman, her brother-in law, Morris Kleiman. PhD, her nephew, Jeremv A. Kleiman andVher brother, Ronald Dozierand his Wife, Becky Dozier, and her brothers , Walter H Dozier Jr. and James Dozier.Mineral services will be held 11 00 A M Saturday, January 16,2016 at Kent Forest Lawn Funeral Home with Reverend Virgil Tillman officiating.Interment w ill follow at Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery.The family will receive friends one hour prior toservices at the funeral homeExpressions of sympathy may be viewed or expressed at wwwkentforestlawn.comArrangements by Kent-Forest Lawn Mineral Home and Cemeteries.Kent-Forest Lawn Funeral Home2403 Harrison Ave.Panama City, Fla. 32405 850-763-4694www.kentiorestlawn.comlevel, she immediately The TCU Ballet put it into practice in herProgram was established in classes at ITU, People
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Panama City News Herald
Panama City, Florida, US
Wed, Jan 13, 2016
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