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New Ballet Ensemble and School

The New Ballet Ensemble and School is a place where Memphis children come together from all backgrounds to find a common ground in dance where talent, dreams and goals are nurtured, developed and realized regardless of the ability to pay. New Ballet trains young dancers in a quality classical ballet curriculum at a state-of-the-art facility and has a strong and varied repertoire that speaks to an increasingly diverse world. The program which focuses on diversity utilizes urban styles and multicultural dance forms as well as the classical to engage children's interest, with classical training and the foundation. New Ballet hosts a professional dance company, instructional dance classes (beginning at age 3 up to adult classes), a scholarship program, school performances, public performances, and outreach programs including partnerships with other youth and arts organizations. Thirty percent of New Ballet students receive full scholarships to participate in the core program and New Ballet has a goal to reach fifty percent scholarship participation in the next five years. In addition to the 155 students attending classes each week, a professional company of eight paid dancers rehearses under the same roof, teaches core classes, and travels to schools with an educational and informative curriculum designed to seek out potential students. Thirty percent of these dancers are African American and all but one dancer were raised in Memphis. Four dancers in the professional company come to New Ballet through the scholarship program. Last season, New Ballet brought school performances to over 8,000 Title 1 school children and students in rural areas. In the first half of this fiscal year, over 5,000 students have already been reached through the performances. This program brings ballet to life for Mid-South students, many who have never seen a live performance and have not been exposed to performing art. Currently, New Ballet tours city schools with a production of Peter and the Wolf. New Ballet provides school teachers with a pre-performance curriculum which allows their students to engage in activities that educate them on the composer's biography and the story of Peter and the Wolf. The curriculum also instructs on how instruments are used to represent characters and tell the story. New Ballet is known for including a uniquely Memphis style of 'hip hop' dance into performances. Search New Ballet + Dying Swan on You Tube to see an example of 'Jookin' blended into the classical idiom. This is a perfect example of how New Ballet discovers the abundant talent in the Memphis area and takes the student a step further into a cross cultural experience, creating a new form of dance in the process.

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  New Ballet Ensemble and School

  2157 York Avenue
  Memphis, TN 38104

  Phone: (901) 726-9225

  Fax: (901) 274-5370

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