Ballet Quad Cities Keeps Dancing With Ballet 101 Online
Ballet Quad Cities may have had to postpone its shows and in-person classes and training, but that hasn’t stopped the dance, and the dancers, from bringing their kinetic art online.
Ballet Quad Cities has started up “Ballet 101” here, which offers young dancers the opportunity to continue to pursue their art online with others.
Emily Kate Long, Artistic Associate for the Ballet, said, “In thinking about some of the long-term partnerships the ballet company has had with area schools, I wanted to find a way to keep bringing dance to these students even though they are not in school right now. We reach students in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade with programs that focus on social-emotional learning, bullying prevention, music, and literacy, so it seemed right to add physical education to that ever-expanding list.
“The video is essentially a foundational ballet class—almost every step in the ballet vocabulary can be traced back to these basics. Plus, there are some more conventional strength movements people will be familiar with. Part of my goal was to give kids a first-hand experience of what ballet dancers do every day—ballet is hard! The “dancers-as-athletes” concept is usually very surprising to students and teachers alike.
“It was an interesting process of recording video clips and voice memos on my phone and computer by myself in the studio. Most of the work was laying music over it and editing it to make sure the pace was challenging but doable for 7- to 11-year-old learners.”
Keep an eye out for more great online courses and offerings from your only local professional dance troupe, Ballet Quad Cities!
