Soft piano music played from the small speakers inside the Margo Dean School of Ballet as seven adult dancers gracefully moved across the studio floor on a recent February evening.
The dancers bent their knees downward in a plié while maintaining an upright posture. They stretched their legs and brushed their feet across the scratched wooden floor before rising en pointe.
Associate director Webster Dean watched the students closely from the center of the studio, critiquing each move before asking them to repeat the routine.
Across the room, another pair of eyes observed as well.
Margo Dean holds onto the ballet barre as she dances alongside students on Feb. 23, 2026, in Fort Worth. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
The school’s namesake, Margo Dean, held herself up on a portable ballet barre as she mimicked the dancers’ moves and brushed her feet across the floor.
Dean, 98, doesn’t get around as easily as she used to, but that doesn’t stop her attending classes regularly to offer words of encouragement to those who come through her studio’s doors.
“Ballet has just been my life,” Dean said with a smile.
For 76 years, Dean’s studio has been a pillar of west Fort Worth’s arts community. The school, which is the longest standing ballet academy in the city, has provided rigorous training to hundreds of dancers and launched the professional careers of many who went on to perform in major companies and on Broadway.
“She’s a trailblazer in Fort Worth,” her son Webster said. “Most ballet that’s here in Fort Worth can be traced back to her.”
Spotlighting the ‘art of dance’
Posters from previous Ballet Concerto performances line the walls of the Margo Dean School of Ballet on Feb. 23, 2026. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
Margo Dean is a trained ballet dancer who fell in love with the profession at age 8. After growing up in Fort Worth, she studied in cities across the world, including Paris, New York and Cannes. She spent several years with the Dallas Ballet in the late 1940s.
During this time, she wanted to share her love for the art with her hometown. In 1950, she founded the Margo Dean School of Ballet out of her living room in Fort Worth’s Westside, near Stripling Middle School.
Fewer than 10 young girls came in twice a week during those first few months, she recalled.
As more students twirled their way into classes a few years later, Dean transitioned to a bigger space on Westview Avenue.
One of the first students to join the Westview classes was Suzanne “Suzie” Jary, who started studying ballet at 5 in 1960. Those first few lessons introduced Jary to the power of music, movement and collaborating with other dancers, she recalled.
Jary carried those fundamentals with her throughout her performances on Broadway in David Merrick’s “42nd Street” in 1980, she said.
“Margo has been a huge mentor and advocate in my life and for my career,” Jary said. “She’s always wanted everyone to be exposed to the art of dance.”
Suzie Jary, center, poses with fellow company members Karren Nunn, left, and Margo Dean, right, during a Ballet Concerto performance at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Fort Worth in 1973. (Courtesy | Suzie Jary)
Dean expanded on her success in 1961 by establishing the Fort Worth Ballet Association, which is now known as Texas Ballet Theater. Eight years later, she launched Ballet Concerto, a nonprofit focused on making dance accessible through its free summer concert series.
The Margo Dean School of Ballet relocated to its current location at 3803 Camp Bowie Blvd. in the early 1980s with classes for ages 3 and up that ranged from ballet and jazz dance to flamenco.
The studio’s office is decorated from top to bottom in various shades of purple — the founder’s favorite color. Walls are framed with portraits of notable alumni and decades of accolades presented to Dean from Fort Worth City Council, Arts Fort Worth and the Dallas Dance Council.
Webster now leads the school’s day-to-day operations as his mother deals with some health challenges. He trained at the University of Utah and danced for more than a decade with Ballet West in Salt Lake City.
He grew up performing in his mother’s studio, although his father didn’t want him to dance professionally, he said.
“I’ve learned more, mother’s done less, and I’ve had to take her place,” Webster said.
Webster and Margo Dean pose inside the School of Ballet’s dance studio on Feb. 6, 2026. (David Moreno | Fort Worth Report)
One of his key responsibilities is navigating declining enrollment, which he says has been a challenge since the pandemic. Classes now range from six to 12 students, down from nearly double that in the school’s prime, he said.
Curbside visibility has been impacted in part by the construction of Bowie House across the street, Webster said. He and several businesses on Camp Bowie Boulevard clashed with developers during the early stages of the project in 2021.
Still, Webster and his mother aren’t completely worried about recent challenges. The school remains a city staple and continues to teach generations of families, he said.
“We’ve had third-generation students coming in,” Webster said. “It’s amazing and a testimony to the legacy and longevity of her being here.”
Dean inspires students with passion
Students perform various ballet routines during an evening class at the Margo Dean School of Ballet on Feb. 23, 2026, in Fort Worth. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
Jane Garbett, 16, and Emily Hattensty were two of the students who glided through Webster’s instructions during the February class.
Jane has studied at the Margo Dean School of Ballet nearly her whole life. Her parents were drawn to the small studio and the founder’s focus on individualized teaching methods. The teen now trains at the school five days a week.
Hattensty, who is a high school teacher, started training with the Deans two years ago after a 10-year break from dancing.
The quality of Dean’s classes and instructors are clear signs of why the school has been around for so long, the students said.
Hattensty’s favorite part of every class is seeing the Fort Worth icon smiling and keenly observing from the side.
“Sometimes she’ll look over and tell me that she’s keeping an eye on me,” Hattensty said. “She’s really involved for someone her age, and that’s something that really inspires me to have that kind of passion.”
As the evening class came to an end, Dean said goodbye to her students by putting their hands to her cheek.
These dancers aren’t just students, she said, they’re part of her extended family — a lineage that twirls through generations.
David Moreno is the arts and culture reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or @davidmreports.
The Fort Worth Report’s arts and culture coverage is supported in part by the Meta Alice Keith Bratten Foundation and the Virginia Hobbs Charitable Trust. At the Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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