Ballet for Young People in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach
Miami City Ballet’s signature educational outreach program Ballet for Young People had its 2014-2015 debut in Bailey Hall at Broward College on Friday, Nov. 7., followed by the Kravis Center’s Dreyfoos Hall on Monday, Nov. 17, featuring the MCB School Ensemble.
In attendance at Bailey Hall were over 500 public school students from Broward and Miami-Dade counties, and at the Kravis Center, a packed house of students from Palm Beach County.
Each child received a special educational guide with fun activities designed to teach children about ballet. Darleen Callaghan, director of Miami City Ballet School, opened the program with a short barre demonstration with two of the advanced students and invited two children from the audience to go onstage to try out some of the partnering techniques they had just observed. Ms. Callaghan then gave an informative introduction to the dancing that followed. The program featured excerpts from The Sleeping Beauty and George Balanchine’s Western Symphony. Finally, a Q&A session gave kids in the audience an opportunity to interact with the student dancers.
Composed of advanced students of Miami City Ballet School’s Pre-Professional Division, the MCB School Ensemble was developed in response to MCB’s overall commitment to further expand the organization’s reach into more South Florida communities, as well as to provide advanced ballet students with professional-level performance opportunities.
Miami City Ballet extends a special thanks to principal sponsors Michele and Larry Herbert, who have graciously provided Miami City Ballet and the School the funds and resources critical to keeping this vital program alive.