Corinne’s impact on me and those who knew her is far greater than words could adequately express. I feel very lucky to have had her as a mentor, dance mom, and ballet teacher for many of my formative years and on through college. As many have said, she without a doubt played a big part in making me into the person I am. I will forever cherish the lessons I learned from her and the years of laughs, tears, friendship and ballet we had together! it was a great honor and blessing to know Corinne, and I want to thank her for everything she did for me and those around her. I’ll remember you always! To her friends, family, and Dixie I send all my love and prayers.

Love, Shelby Nichols

I loved going to dance when Corinne was my teacher. She would push us hard and would love on us hard. One day during the summer, Corinne gave us an especially difficult and tiring petite allegro. I was in the front row and once I finished I figured that that was all she would make us do. But I was oh so wrong. Again and again and again and again we probably did it about 30 times in a row. Finally, I was so fed up with it that I decided I was going to look her straight in the face while I danced and smile right at her to prove that the combo wasn’t breaking me down. Though exhausted, that’s what I did but instead of telling us to do it again, Corinne just grinned and turned off the music and said, “I was just waiting for someone to perform it!” We all had a pretty good laugh after that. 

But when I think of Corinne that’s who I think of. She wanted us to dance because it made us free. Did she want us to dance to progress? Yes of course, but more than that, she wanted us to feel the artistry of ballet. She choreographed beautiful pieces that I had the honor of being in. She will remain like a handprint on my heart forevermore!