Heidi Blair Sontag is the founder and director of NewDance. Ms. Sontag's idea to create a friendly and fun atmosphere for dance students was born in March of 1992. While teaching at several locations in the Greenwich, CT area, she developed a keen interest in the preschool aged child and started to implement a highly successful method and syllabus for teaching this unique population. As the loyal following for this type of class grew, so did Mrs.Sontag's desire for a suitable "home" for her students. It was not long before NewDance was conceptualized and informal focus groups were interviewed about everything including safety, fees, other related services, and location. With over 15 years of teaching experience, Heidi is still recreating and refreshing the syllabus for the dance curriculum at NewDance.

Heidi was born in western Pennsylvania in the farm country south of Erie. Her father was the Postmaster of Linesville, PA where the family resided. Heidi's mother was employed by the only bank in the area. And the family maintained a 20-acre farm, which was home to many cows, chickens, pigs, cats and dogs.

Ms. Blair grew up hearing stories of her impoverished great grandmother who accompanied the local ballet school's classes on the piano. Heidi's grandmother would sit in the studio doorway, yearning to be admittted to the class. Her grandmother never did receive a formal dance lesson but she did instill a love of the arts into the generations to follow. (Heidi's mother is an accomplished singer and remains active in choirs in the Phoenix area.)

Through "snow belt" winters and "lake effect" rainstorms, Mrs. Sontag was driven (by a dedicated mother) to the closest dance school over 40 miles away. Beginning at age five, Heidi found her commitment to dance very strong and spent every moment dancing. When the Blair family suddenly moved to Phoenix, Arizona, Heidi was exposed to many different styles of dance and the close proximity to many dance studios was instrumental in her formal ballet training.

Mrs. Sontag studied at Ballet Arizona, Arizona State University, Profile for Dance, Camelback Dance Theatre and performed professionally, with the Elayne Nueman Dance Company and Desert Dance Theatre while in Phoenix. She also completed credit course work in dance programs at Reed College (Portland, OR) and at CalState Long Beach. Upon graduation from high school, she majored in modern dance at SUNY Purchase, studied at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center (now known as The Alvin Ailey School), The Joffery Ballet, and with Murray Louis. Heidi eventually returned to school as a biology major.

She has received awards and scholarships from The National Society of Arts and Letters (Empire State Chapter), The Michio Ito Award, The Camelback Scholarship Fund, Westchester Womens' News Forty Under Forty, Westchester Magazine and many others.