Who We Are
Dr. Naeemah Ruffin, Founder of Ballet Podiatry, created a unique collaboration with Rosemary Saur, Owner and Director of the Scarsdale Ballet Studio, to support ballet dancers of all ages. Ballet is a unique and specific style of dance with a system of rigorous and complex movements that puts an unusual demand on the body, and Ballet Podiatry provides a specialized and holistic end- to end approach to support dancers to become resilient and graceful. Ballet Podiatry services are uniquely designed to educate and treat ballet dancers of all ages to improve their strength and flexibility, prevent and manage injuries, and to enable dancers to become the dancers they have always dreamed of becoming.
Dr. Ruffin is a life-long lover of ballet and has taken classes throughout her life and is currently an adult ballet student at the Scarsdale Ballet Studio. Dr. Ruffin is a Board-Certified New York Podiatrist and a former Assistant Clinical Professor at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Dr. Ruffin completed her surgical residency and chief residency training at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Ruffin is a fellow of the American College of Podiatric Medicine, a member of the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science, American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine, American Podiatric Medical Association, and the New York State Podiatric Medical Association. Dr. Ruffin is also an author with research papers being published in some of the most prestigious journals such as the British Medical Journal and the Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association.
Rosemary, an accomplished ballet dancer, started dancing at the age of 7 and was accepted into the Conservatory Bush Davies School by the age of 11, where she studied under the guidance of Noreen Bush. Her professional experience took her to Tel Aviv, Israel, where Ms. Saur performed with the Israeli Classical Ballet and later with the renowned modern company, Bat Dor. After returning to England, she completed a teaching diploma at the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing in Bedford, before accepting a teaching position in Mainz, Germany. She also performed as a dancer at the Mainz State Theater. In 2010 Ms. Saur completed the Professional Dancer’s Teaching Diploma (P.D.T.D.) at the Royal Academy of Dance in London, England. She has been teaching at Scarsdale Ballet Studio since 2008.
Kayla Fields is Ballet Podiatry’s administrator. She works closely with dancers, “dance moms”, and studios to support Ballet Podiatry’s mission to meet ballet dancer’s foot and ankle health care needs. Kayla began dancing at 4 years and trained under Lisa & Peter Naumann at the New Paltz School of Ballet. At age 10, she was chosen to dance with the New York City Ballet in Coppelia. She later trained privately at Ballet Academy East with Tara Mora while taking class throughout the city as well as performing with the Dances Patrelle company in their Nutcracker. Kayla then moved to Boston to further her training at the Boston Ballet under the direction of Margaret Tracey. With the experience of learning from many different teachers, she started teaching and training dancers after moving back to upstate New York to open her own studio. We are thrilled to have Kayla on the team!