Darcy Boynton wants students to ‘embrace the process’

SALISBURY — When Darcy Boynton addressed Salisbury Central School’s graduating class in June, she urged students to focus on the process of learning rather than the outcome. It’s an outlook the Salisbury native has followed throughout her own career as a director, teacher, business owner and dancer — in no particular order.

“I firmly believe that the people who are the most successful, in any endeavor, are process-oriented,” she said. “The process is where we spend most of our time and where we grow. In the process, we become a team.”

During an interview at the White Hart on Friday, July 31, Boynton expanded on her argument for embracing “the process” and discussed her passion for using arts education to shape growth, development and confidence in children.

Boynton has been able to lean into her definition of “the process” with the establishment of Blue Studio Dance, which she co-founded with Falls Village resident Amber Cameron in 2023. The pair met at the Sharon Playhouse more than 15 years ago during a production of Oklahoma!, and have since taken their show on the road, teaching and choreographing together throughout the region. Entering its fourth year, Blue Studio Dance offers a variety of dance programs for children and adults with the goal of fostering a sense of belonging and artistic freedom.

She is also involved in children’s theater productions. She directed the last four musicals at Salisbury Central School, including Annie, Fiddler on the Roof, Matilda, and Newsies! She also directed Mary Poppins for the Falls Village Children’s Theater in March.

Boynton said she deliberately and thoughtfully challenges her dance and theater students and performers.

“I want to get them to stretch their abilities,” Boynton said. “It’s respectful to hold them to a high standard. Children get undersold all the time by adults.”

Boynton said she looks for the “sweet spot” between embracing the learning process and the final result.

“We want a good experience, but we can put on a good show too,” she said, adding that striking that balance requires “constant readjustment” as rehearsals go on.

One measure of success, Boynton said, is whether students come back. Boynton said the results have been encouraging.

“We have a very high return rate for the SOAR musical,” she said.

SOAR (Seek Originate Aim Reach) is the after school enrichment program at SCS. SOAR is a non-profit organization founded in 2000, and Boynton is a board member.

A Salisbury native, Boynton attended SCS, Indian Mountain School and The Hotchkiss School before graduating from New York University, where she began as a theater major and switched to English.

After college she floated between New York, San Francisco and Connecticut, unsure of where she was headed.

“I kind of fell into arts education,” Boynton said. She co-founded and operated Shooting Star Arts Camp alongside Elise Babigian, also from Salisbury, and operated the camp for six years. It was located where Blue Studio is now.

Boynton believes arts education is too often regarded as supplemental to the standard curriculum, but her years of directing and teaching have proven its value.

“The arts are integral, like math or science,” she said. “They are part of a core education.”