Welcome to Summer Classes at American Repertory Ballet’s Princeton Ballet School!
Summer
at ARB’s Princeton Ballet School has a very different feeling to it
than our academic year. We host three summer programs for older dancers
(see descriptions below), but we also continue to offer weekly classes
for beginning dancers, or intermediate dancers too young to be able to
sustain a longer dance day.
Because many of our
young dancers are following a different schedule during the summer, or
spending time away at camp or with family, we do not have as wide a
selection of levels and times as we are able to offer during the
academic year. We group the dancers slightly differently as well. Here
is a description of our SUMMER CLASSES FOR CHILDREN.
(If you are looking for classes for next fall, those schedules will be available in early June. Until then, CLICK HERE to access information about the 2008-09 schedule. The schedule for 09-10 will be similar.)
Our Philosophy |
Photo: Unknown |
In contrast to ballet schools which demand that a
child’s
body conform to rigid expectations of technique, ARB's
Princeton Ballet School is known for nurturing the
developing dancer in a
safe
and progressive way. Our approach is to coach our students
in discovering for themselves how their bodies relate
to ballet technique, and then, as they mature, to help
them grow technically by “feeling the dancing” from
within. Our children’s classes go slowly and allow
plenty of time for imagination and exploration,
even as the
children are mastering the basic concepts. For the
older student, we continue to emphasize understanding
technique,
so that safe work habits, personal responsibility,
and concentration become second nature. |
The outcome
of this
approach is that our students acquire the tools of
mind and body they will need not only to become
professional
dancers or lifelong friends of the arts, but to foster
self esteem, self-discipline, and fitness that provide
a powerful edge in any future endeavor.
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Enrollment
in the Children’s Division is based on a combination of age and prior
experience. Students must meet the age requirements by October 1 of the
academic year. Following are descriptions of our Children’s Division
courses for beginners, presented in order of age:
PLEASE NOTE THAT CLASSES FOR INTERMEDIATES WILL FOLLOW ALL BEGINNER CLASS LISTINGS |
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Photo: Unknown |
Hand In HandA first Dance Class for Young Dancers and their Parents!
Hand
in Hand is designed for three and four year old dancers. The class will
focus on discovering the world of rhythm and dance through gentle
exercises and dances hand in hand with parents or caregivers. |
Weekly time commitment: |
once a week for 30 minutes |
Minimum age: |
must be 3 by July 1, 2009 |
Supervision: |
must be accompanied in the classroom by a participating adult |
Maximum enrollment per section: |
12 children, one adult each |
Offered in: |
Cranbury, New Brunswick, Princeton |
Suggested clothing: |
parents
should wear comfortable clothing (sweatpants or exercise wear) that
will allow them to move with their child; young dancers may wear
comfortable clothing like their parents, or may wish to wear dancewear. |
Download the 2009 Children's Open Enrollment Brochure
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NOTE FOR FAMILIES OF CHILDREN WITH PRIOR DANCE TRAINING: |
If
your child is four or five years old, and has had prior dance training,
we would still like to work with her/him in the age-appropriate class.
The training at ARB’s Princeton Ballet School is very careful and
thoroughly thought-out, and we do not believe in moving very young
children ahead of their age peers. We want them to pass through our
early childhood curriculum at our pace. |
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Photo: Eduardo Patino, NYC |
Beginning Dance
This is a special dance class for the four or five year old
pre-Kindergarten boy or girl, which prepares them for studying ballet
with our curriculum. This class explores the body’s dance capabilities,
and the world of rhythm and music. Each class has a theme relating to
movement and music qualities, and features lots of stories and
opportunities for creative movement. |
Weekly time commitment: |
once a week for 45 minutes |
Minimum age: |
must by 4 by July 1, 2009 |
Maximum enrollment: |
12 dancers per section |
Prior experience necessary: |
none |
Offered in: |
Cranbury, New Brunswick, Princeton |
Uniform: |
Girls — pink leotard, pink footless tights or bare legs. No shoes.
Boys — teeshirts and bike shorts or sweatpants, depending on season.
See description below |
Download the 2009 Children's Open Enrollment Brochure
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Children’s Summer Ballet
This course works on the basics of ballet, with simple
barre and center exercises and lots of time spent in gross motor
movement across the floor, skipping, galloping, etc. We work on
listening skills, responsiveness to direction, awakening self-control
and focus, plus experiencing the joy of dance. |
Photo: Ellen Crane |
Weekly time commitment: |
once a week for 60 minutes |
Age range: |
5 - 7 |
Maximum enrollment: |
18 dancers (rarely that large) |
Prior experience necessary: |
none |
Offered in: |
Cranbury, New Brunswick, Princeton |
Uniform: |
Girls — pink leotard, pink tights and ballet shoes
Boys — teeshirts and bike shorts or sweatpants, depending on season.
See description below |
Download the 2009 Children's Open Enrollment Brochure
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Photo: Ellen Crane |
Children’s Ballet 2
This class is for the slightly older beginner, age 8 to 12. Dancers are
introduced to the basic barre and center work of the ballet class,
concentrating on safe alignment. They work as a group on listening
skills, responsiveness to directions, and awakening self-control and
focus. The second portion of the class centers on gross motor
movements, while instilling the joy of dance. |
Weekly time commitment: |
once a week for 60 minutes |
Age Range: |
8 -12 |
Maximum enrollment: |
18 dancers per section |
Prior experience necessary: |
none |
Offered in: |
Cranbury, New Brunswick, Princeton |
Uniform: |
Girls — pale blue leotard, pink tights, pink ballet shoes.
Boys — teeshirts and bike shorts or sweatpants, depending on season.
See description below
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Download the 2009 Children's Open Enrollment Brochure
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Photo: Ellen Crane
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Children’s Intermediate Ballet
During
the academic year, we offer four different levels of advancement for
young intermediate dancers. Due to our smaller student population in
the summer, we cluster all intermediates together. The goals of the
class are to increase the young dancers’ knowledge and understanding of
the barre work, their use of their feet and turnout muscles, their
knowledge of the French vocabulary words used in ballet class, and
their gross motor coordination and skill level with jumps and leaps. |
If
you and your dancer are new to us and would like to continue in the
fall, please know that the director will be visiting these summer
classes to consult with the teacher about appropriate class placement
for the fall for all new students. This usually happens during the
final three weeks of the summer session, when the students have had a
chance to acclimate to our faculty.
Full
information about class levels and schedules for fall will be available
online by early June. In the meantime, feel free to browse the 2008-09
information—09-10 will be similar in levels, with adjustments to class
times and teacher assignments. |
Photo: Diane Bladecki |
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Weekly time commitment: |
once a week for 60 minutes |
Minimum age: |
must be 6 by October 1, 2008 |
Maximum enrollment: |
18 dancers per section |
Prior experience necessary: |
by evaluation only; most participants have between one to three years of dance training. Click here for information on evaluation process. |
Offered in: |
Cranbury, New Brunswick, Princeton |
Uniform: |
Girls — pale blue leotard, pink tights, pink ballet shoes.
Boys — white teeshirt, black pants, black ballet shoes.
See description below
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Download the 2009 Children's Open Enrollment Brochure
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Boys’ Classes
Due to the small number of students in the summer, we do not
offer special classes for boys during the summer session. We encourage boys to try
the co-ed classes (please note that we offer a beginner class on
Tuesdays taught by a male teacher, Niall Lessard). Our regular Boys’
Class will resume in the fall, on Wednesday afternoons. |
Photo: Unknown |
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During the academic year, we have uniforms for each level. During the summer, since our levels are somewhat different and the general atmosphere is more relaxed, we do not require specific colors of leotards for the girls. However, I would like to give you some general guidelines on dancewear for children this age. And if you are considering having your child continue in the fall (and we hope you are), you might want to buy the color suggested in the text above. |
Girls: Beginning Dance needs tights without feet, or just bare legs. Leotard color for four and five year olds during the school year is pink. Dancers 6 and older generally wear light blue. Please buy ballet shoes from a reputable dealer, not the ones that are bedroom slippers with foam soles. |
Boys: good summer wear would be a teeshirt and shorts. Unconstructed shorts without a lot of hardware would be best— bike shorts are perfect. Boys in Beginning Dance should dance barefoot. Boys in Children’s Summer Dance or Intemediate ballet should get black ballet shoes (see last sentence under Girls for ballet shoe comments). If they wish to wear tights instead of shorts, they should get black tights with feet. |
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Faculty Biographies
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| NIALL LESSARD graduated from ARB’s Princeton Ballet School as a member of the Professional Training
Program in 2007. He recently finished sophmore year at The Juilliard School, where he danced this
year in ballets by Anthony Tudor, José Limón and Ohad Naharin. Niall began teaching for Princeton Ballet
School summer of 2007.
ERIKA MERO began her dance training at Princeton Ballet School. As a dancer in the Professional Training
Program, she studied with Elisabeth Carrol, Septime Webre, Maria Youskevitch, Kyra Nichols, Kim Vaccaro,
Mary Pat Robertson, Mary Barton and Douglas Martin. Ms. Mero was a member of Princeton Ballet II, our
pre-professional company, which later was re-named ARB Workshop. She appeared in Graham Lustig’s
Standstill, and also danced the ballerina role of Swanhilda in Coppélia. During these years, she also attended
The Juilliard School’s summer program twice. In 2006, Ms. Mero graduated Cum Laude with a BFA in Dance
Performance from SUNY Purchase. After graduation, Ms. Mero continued teaching at ARB’s Princeton
Ballet School, where she had started in 2003. Recent performance work includes Stuart Loungway’s Terra
Firma Dance Theatre, and productions of Roméo et Juliette, Rigoletto, The Merry Widow and Die Fledermaus with Opera New Jersey. Ms. Mero is studying for her Master’s in Ballet Pedagogy at NYU.
KATHLEEN SMITH, a graduate of ARB’s Princeton Ballet School Professional Training Program, has
also studied dance at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City. Ms. Smith has been teaching clogging for
the past ten years with her group, The Century Cloggers. She also teaches DANCE POWER, an outreach
program of American Repertory Ballet in collaboration with the New Brunswick Public School system.
She has been teaching for ARB’s Princeton Ballet School since 2003.
SUSAN TENNEY has been produced off-Broadway, at the Limelight, Williamstown Theatre Festival,
Jacob’s Pillow Touring Ensemble, Edinburgh International Theatre Festival, and Tanglewood. She was
resident choreographer and movement coach at Williamstown Theater Festival for four years and has restaged
the choreography for McCarter Theatre’s A Christmas Carol. She has performed as a soloist with Jean
Erdman, Andrew deGroat and Dancers, Novantiqua, Muna Tseng, and Nat Horne Musical Theater. She is
Artistic Director of Susan Tenney and Company. Ms. Tenney holds a B.F.A. from SUNY Purchase. She has
taught here for over 20 years.
DR. KIM CHANDLER VACCARO earned a B.A. in Choreography and Performance from University of
California at Santa Barbara, an M.A. in Dance Education from UCLA, and a doctoral degree from Temple
University. She wrote Jazz Dance Today, with Lorraine Kreigel, and was a contributing editor to the awardwinning
book Core Collections in Dance. Dr. Vaccaro is the director of the Rider University/Princeton Ballet
School Dance Program and works extensively with the NJ Dept. of Education on curriculum projects related
to dance and technology. Dr. Vaccaro’s lively dances for children have been a part of nearly all of the school
shows in her many years of teaching for ARB’s Princeton Ballet School. She is also the Artistic Director and
a choreographer for Rider Dances, the annual mainstage dance event of the Princeton Ballet School/Rider
University dance program. |
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For more information on Children's Division classes,
please call
the the Princeton studio (609) 921 - 7758. |
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