Summer 2017 Update: Performances, Intensives, Camps, Classes

As we approach the performance week for La Fille mal gardee at the Excelsior Springs PAC June 9 and 10, 7:30 pm, (The Excelsior Springs PAC is at 612 Tiger Drive, Excelsior Springs Missouri) it is time to mention what else is coming up at Ballet North!  We have a very full summer of Ballet Intensives, Dance Camps, and of course our classical ballet classes.  Further details below!

Ballet Intensives and Camps:

Summer Ballet Pre-Intensive ages "about" 9 (with previous training) to 12: Monday thru Friday June 19 to 23, 9:30 am - 3:00 pm.  This shorter duration Intensive still presents the all-day long at the ballet challenge of the full length intensive for those who are at the beginning level of ballet technique, and want to dial up their learning and progress during the summer which is always much easier to do since school is not in session and everyone has much more energy!  Each day Pre-Intensive students will take a full length technique class, plus modern, conditioning, choreography study, work on pantomime skills and much more.  NO lunch or snack is provided, please bring your own brown bag lunch daily.  For the young ladies, pointe shoes are NOT required in the Pre-Intensive.

Summer Ballet Intensive ages 13+ runs Monday June 19 thru Friday June 23 AND Monday June 26 thru Friday June 30; 9:30 am - 3:00 pm.  This is a two-week intensive program for the intermediate dancer that wants to use the summer to augment and enhance their technical abilities.  Each day a full length technique class plus pointe, basic variations, modern, tap/character and choreography learning are presented.  Girls MUST be on pointe for this Intensive.  NO lunch or snack served, please bring your own lunch daily.

Dance Camp 1 ages 4-5

Dance Camp 1 lets the youngest dancers fill in many of the gaps about the wonderful world of the ballet that there just is never time for in a regular ballet class.  Learning about the 500 year history of the ballet, art projects that teach about the major ballets such as Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker or Don Quixote; and even learning about how the bones and muscles work and even some of what good nutrition concepts are for young athletes and of course they take a daily ballet class too!  Dance Camp 1 runs Monday thru Friday July 10 - 14, 9:30 am - 11:00 am.  SNACKS ARE SERVED PLEASE ADVISE OF ANY ALLERGIES!!!

Dance Camp 2 ages 6-9

Dance Camp 2 for ages 6-9 continues solving the problem that there's never enough time in a ballet class to cover everything about the marvelous art form of the ballet.  Dance Camp 2 lets the young student continue the learning about the world of ballet with further learning about the major figures in Ballet such as the great choreographers and their works such as Giselle or Swan Lake, with art projects that reinforce ballet concepts plus learning about pantomime story telling, muscles and bones, nutrition, and of course daily ballet class.  Dance Camp 2 runs Monday thru Friday July 17 - 21, 9:30 am - 12:00 pm.  SNACKS ARE SERVED PLEASE ADVISE OF ANY ALLERGIES!!!

Next Year's Ballet Schedule

Starting Wednesday July 5 we will be on the new schedule for the next 12 months until June of 2018 - because classical ballet is learned in much the same way as music wherein long periods without practicing cause a lot of learning loss, we do NOT take the whole summer off.  Please join us for an exciting year of classical ballet learning starting immediately after the 4th of July!

You can find all the latest details and updates in the Home, Intensives Camps, and Ballet Classes sections of this website.  Enjoy the ballet! 

La Fille set for June 9 and 10

Ballet North is very pleased to present La Fille mal gardee "The Wayward Daughter" June 9 and 10, 2017 at the Excelsior Springs Performing Arts Center, 612 Tiger Drive Excelsior Springs Missouri,  7:30 pm Friday and Saturday.

A delightful mix of comedic missteps, a little romance and even dancing chickens create a captivating and truly amusing rendering of pastoral life that seems oddly accurate even in today's world.  You've never seen a ballet like this before!

Tickets are available online using the link on the front page of this website.  See you at the stage!

Nutcracker School Tour and Children's Party

We are rapidly filling up the Nutcracker School Tour for 2015!  We have one slot available on Friday November 20, and one slot open on Friday December 11.  Friday December 4 is booked full.  

Also don't forget, the Nutcracker Children's Party featuring Act II of the Nutcracker Suite plus refreshments, cookie decorating, pictures with the Sugar Plum, Dew Drop and Clara, suitable for the whole family! Saturday December 5, at 2 pm and also 4 pm.  (Approximate runtime for the even is 1 hour total.)

Nutcracker Children's Party reservations available at www.balletnorthblog.com starting November 1. 

Alice in Wonderland for Spring Festival 2016

We are very excited to journey into Wonderland this June when Ballet North presents Alice as the headline ballet in Spring Festival of Dance 2016.  Also featured will be Les Sylphides and Carmen.  Performances will be on two days, Friday evening and Saturday afternoon at the Liberty North Performing Arts Center.  Reserve seating - tickets available starting April of 2016.

Boy's Ballet Class

Boy's Ballet Class:

On Wednesdays 6:30 - 7:00 pm.  For ages 7 and up -- how it works is boys will take either Pre-Ballet 4 from 5 - 6 pm if under 10 years of age, then also take the Boy's Class from 6:30 - 7:00 pm making for an awesome double play of ballet!  Boys over 10 years of age will take Grade 1 from 5 - 6:30 pm then the Boy's Class from 6:30 - 7:00 pm and pas de deux from 7 - 7:30 pm which is a tremendous tripple play of ballet skills buliding.   For getting a young man started in ballet, this is as good as it gets!

Ballet North student and company member Audrey Schultz Earns College Scholarship for Ballet!

Ballet North is extremely excited to announce that Ballet North member Audrey Schultz has earned a major scholarship to Oklahoma City University for Dance Talent for 2015! 

One of the primary goals of Ballet North is to provide complete and correct dance education so that students can achieve successes in the real world like this.  A scholarship like this one in the first semester of college alone can completely offset all the prior years' cost of ballet tuition for a complete ballet program like Ballet North offers in the run up to gaining the scholarship, thereby putting students and families very far ahead in the financial game of affording higher education.  Ballet North estimates that the average dollar value of college scholarships to ballet tuition is at least 20:1 meaning for every $1 of ballet tuition, $20 or more of funding for college may be gained.  Looked at another way, 2000% or more in relative value towards college tuition can be earned for every $1 spent on ballet tuition, if the ballet program trains dancers correctly.  A correct and thorough ballet program much, much more than pays for itself!

Of course, it also takes dedication and focused effort on the part of the student to be sure, and so with that we say bravo, Audrey!!!

Open Registration For Pre-Ballet Levels

On Saturday August 23 from 1 to 3 pm at the Ballet North studios in Gladstone Missouri an open registration will be held.  This allows new students of the pre-ballet levels to come in and look at the building, talk with some of our wonderful teachers, and of course enroll for classes! 

While the ballet class program at Ballet North runs 12 months out of the year, the end of August is a very natural time to pick up a new activity like ballet classes.  Even though our classes have been running in July and August the pre-ballet levels are designed for learning ballet in a basic fashion from the ground up, and so new students to these classes just have to allow themselves a few classes in order to "catch on" to the work of the class, but that is how it is with any new activity! 

Note: As always, Vaganova levels for ages 10 and up can only be enrolled in by first taking a placement class.

First Day Back To Class

The first day back to class after our mid-summer pause will be MONDAY JULY 7, 2014. 

Due to Saturday July 5 being right after the 4th of July and during the actual holiday weekend, it is very likely that a "Ghostship" situation would occur where few to no students or dancers would be present making it rather pointless to hold classes on Saturday July 5.  Monday July 7 is not a holiday and obviously not a weekend day so it should present no challenges.  For all Saturday students, your first day will be Saturday July 12!