Maria Fry Bagley
Maria (Fry) Bagley
Maria Fry has been teaching dance for over 35 years. Her repertoire of dance genres include ballet, tap, jazz, musical theater, ballroom and Zumba! Throughout her dance career, Maria has danced for professional companies, such as Tucson Metropolitan Dance Company and Desert Gems Productions in Tucson Arizona. In 1994 she opened her own dance studio in Milford, which she operated for 7 years and later sold to longtime friend and esteemed colleague Michele Xiques. In 1999, she co-founded Diamond Dance Company, under the artistic direction of Tatiana Aikinfieva-Smith. Maria held many positions with the company over the course of 10 years including President of the Board, Artistic Director and Ballet Mistress, as well as performing with the company.
Maria started teaching ballroom in the late 1990’s when she started getting requests for couples to prepare for their wedding dance. Word of mouth and the increased demand for lessons prompted her to add group ballroom classes to her teaching curriculum. Maria developed a 12 week course to provide basic lessons in Fox Trot, Waltz, Cha-cha, Rhumba, Swing and Tango. Later, a Level II course was created for students wishing to continue their education after the basic course, followed by a Latin course to focus on Merengue, Rumba, Cha-cha and Salsa.
Among her teaching accomplishments, Maria has been an active participant in the Delaware Dancing with the Stars event, coaching, choreographing and competing over the last 3 years. The annual black tie event raises money for the Delaware Boys and Girls Club and Mom’s House. Over the years, Maria continues to contribute her time and talents to charitable organizations, especially to those involving children and dance.
Maria is also an accomplished actress, performing professionally and non-professionally throughout Delaware and Maryland. She continues to perform dinner theater with Footlights Productions and lends her choreography to local theater companies in Kent and Sussex Counties. Former President of the Board of Directors of Milford Second Street Players, Maria has performed in and choreographed many productions on the main stage of the Riverfront Theater over the course of 20 years. Productions include Gypsy, Crimes of the Heart, Witness for the Prosecution, Annie and Wizard of Oz, which she co-directed and choreographed. She continues to support the Second Street Players whenever possible.
Maria currently works for the State of Delaware as a State Contract Procurement Officer. She has been employed by the State for 29 years and is looking forward to retirement. She has 4 beautiful grown children and 3 grand-children and continues to educate dancers of all ages in the hopes they will be inspired to embrace the joy of dance for many years to come.
Maria will be teaching Dancing on the Shore’s beginner group lessons in the area as well as in Centreville, MD / Chestertown, MD.