Ms. Gail A. Glover

Ms. Gail A. Glover’s life of dance began at the age of seven (7). She has trained extensively and taught dance nationally and internationally.

Gail began her training at the St. Andrews School of Dance in Columbia, South Carolina. During her six years of training at the Dance Theater of Harlem (DTH, NYC) Summer Program, her talent was noted and she was encouraged to train more intensively. Returning home, she enrolled and trained daily at the Columbia City Ballet under the tutelage of Anne Brodie, Adolf-Fina Suarez, Naomi Calvert, and Anne Richardson. She performed in classical ballets including “Swan Lake”, “Giselle”, “The Nutcracker” and many more. Dancing in special roles in “Cinderella” and the summer youth company performances, Gail continued to hone her craft and pursue her passion.

From the age of nine (9) her DTH teachers included Arthur Mitchel, Karol Shook, Tanaquil LaClerq, Sheila Rohan, and Carol Sumner among other notable instructors. At the age of thirteen (13), she was invited to continue her training during the winter session and performed each summer with the workshop ensemble.

Ms. Glover pursued her collegiate degree in dance at Point Park College (PA) and the University of South Carolina-Columbia. She was placed in advanced classes because of her prior training and innate talent. Gail also trained at the Darvash Ballet School under the direct tutelage of Madame Gabriella Darvash.

Moving to New Jersey, Gail was invited to teach at the Garden State Ballet School and also taught throughout the tri-state area (NY, NJ, and CT). Throughout her teaching career, she traveled internationally to Singapore, St. Thomas USVI, Jamaica, and Belize as she continued to expand her teaching credentials. In 1997 she took the opportunity to travel to Russia with the People-to-People delegation in dance educators and gained valuable teaching experience and knowledge. In 1998, upon the invitation from the Minister of Culture in Nassau, Bahamas, she was invited to create and direct the eight-week summer dance program that was presented to government officials, including the Bahamian Governor-General.

Gail founded, directed, and owned the Ly-Ben Dance Theatre in Irvington, N. J., and Columbia, S. C. for 25 years. Teaching over 30,000 students, which included her outreach program, “Movement for Tots”, where she was able to expose her students to professional teachers including; Lisa Attles (DTH), Savion Glover, African drummer Baba Olutunji and many more, recognizing the importance of exposing children of color to artists of color.

Closing her Columbia studio in 2013, Gail who has been an Artist in Residence since 2002 with the S. C. Arts Commission, travels all over the State of SC exposing students to the cultural, social, economic, and historical components of myriad dance techniques and genres. She also continues to teach and dance nationally and internationally.

Gail is a licensed minister of liturgical dance and is highly regarded in the dance ministry field, hosting workshops and conferences and teaching on the biblical and technical requirements of dance used in liturgy. In 2011 she founded the “Order My Steps” online liturgical and Ballet technique courses, which train and license dancers in liturgical dance. She also has an online teacher’s training program which is an intense course to educate dancers on how to run, lead, and operate a dance ministry and dance studio.

Currently, Gail is the founder of the Ly-Ben Dance Alliance with the Dancing towards Diversity Initiative which desires to bring dance to the underserved through the Community Dance Project and L.L.E.A.P. – Living Legends Educating and Performing.

Additionally, Ms. Glover is an accomplished author and poet. She has published five children’s books, four dance ministry books, and a poetry book. Other than dance, which encompasses a great portion of her life, Gail is a motivational speaker, life and business coach, trained in mediation,  loves to read, write, and garden, is an avid life-long learner, and loves traveling. She is the proud mom of Branden Glover and grandmom to Neil Adam Glover.