FOLEY, Ala. — After a professional dance career that includes performing in Europe and across America, as well as being ballet mistress at the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham and the Pensacola Ballet, Rio Barlow will soon teach classed in Foley at the Coastal Ballet Academy.

Barlow has been on the Gulf Coast for almost a decade, and originally opened the Gulf Coast Ballet in Orange Beach.

The school quickly gained a reputation for producing talented dancers and putting on high-caliber performances.

In order to return to school and pursue certification as a hypnotherapist, Barlow passed the ballet school on to another instructor but she has continued to support her former students and their training during her break from ballet.

After becoming a licensed hypnotherapist and hypnotist instructor with a successful practice in Bon Secour, Barlow has decided to return to teaching ballet.

“I love being able to help people overcome behavioral problems such as smoking or overeating, but I also love seeing a child develop both a love for dance and the ability to express that passion,” said Barlow.

Focusing on ballet, Coastal Ballet Academy will offer instruction to dancers beginning at age 2 in creative movement and classical ballet for ages 6 to 12, with stretch and rotate classes for adults.

Barlow’s career in dance began in Miami, Fla., where she taught for Thomas Armor and included periods of study at Julliard, American Ballet Theater and Royal Academy of Dance in London, where she trained under some of the most famous names in the ballet world.

Many of Barlow’s former students are now professional dancers, and a handful have their own schools or run professional ballet companies.

Two of Barlow’s students were medal winners at the world famous International Ballet Competitions held in Jackson, Miss. every four years.

Yoga instruction will also be available at the academy. Danielle Slattery has been a student of yoga since before she could walk.

According to

Slattery, she can thank her mother for her interest in yoga. “Mom was a hippy chick,” she said, “and she shared her love for yoga with me.”

Like Barlow, Slattery is originally from Miami. She and her family have been in the area for seven years, and have truly come to call the Alabama Gulf Coast home.

There will be an Open House at the academy on June 13, from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Students can meet the instructors, ask questions and register for upcoming classes.

The academy is located at 113 W. Laurel Ave. in Foley, in the Gulf Coast Martial Arts building.

For more information, call (251) 979-9851.