A Jim Thorpe woman was one of the winners of The Marjorie Berlin Fink Merit Scholarships, announced the Ballet Guild of the Lehigh Valley, Inc.

Abigal Bleicher Healey of Jim Thorpe, will receive a half-tuition scholarship to study ballet and other dance forms in the Guild's Pre-Professional Division for the 2012-2013 school year and the 2012 Summer Dance Program.Other recipients are Olivia Lovell of Breinigsville and Ava Gilotti of Bethlehem.The winners were chosen from auditions at the Ballet Guild studios on April 15.A panel of distinguished dance educators consisting of Lisa Becker-Padula, owner/director of Northeast Theatre-Dance Academy, Dunmore; Richard Fritz, formerly of the Los Angeles Ballet, Calif.; and Denise Somrack D'Angelo, faculty, Metropolitan Ballet Academy, judged the applicants.The merit scholarships are worth a combined total of $4,000 and will give the awardees the opportunity to study ballet and other dance forms in a pre-professional program designed to emphasize the proper development of ballet skills, focusing on knowledge, placement, and alignment, as well as building stamina, strength, flexibility, and musicality.The Ballet Guild, a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization, is the parent organization of Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, which is well known for performing "The Nutcracker" at Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University, Bethlehem.