Schools

Pennsylvania Ballet Visits Longstreth

Seven dancers spent the day at the elementary school rehearsing and performing for the students.

Students at  were treated to a day of jetés and pirouettes when members of the Pennsylvania Ballet took over the school gymnasium on Friday.

The visit is part of the company's outreach and education program, Accent on Dance, which features dancers from the Pennsylvania Ballet II, a troupe of seven, pre-professional dancers that travel to area schools to rehearse and teach the children about the artform.

"They are picked from our New York auditions," said Artistic Director William DeGregory, "but they need another year or two of training before joining the principal company."

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The dancers spent a majority of the day with public training sessions, allowing different classes watch as they practiced they routines. At 1:30 p.m., the entire school gathered in the gymnasium for an interactive performance that started with DeGregory pulling 10 young volunteers out of the audience. After he lined them up, he went through some basic stances and moves that quickly illustrated how difficult ballet really is.

"It's a great way to get them interested in the art," said DeGregory. "It's a big experience for the girls, of course, but it also gives the boys a chance to see how physically tough you have to be."

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The students cleared the stage for the professionals, as the seven dancers demonstrated some more complicated exercises, then performed dances from popular classics, such as George Balanchine's The Nutcracker and David Nixon's Beauty and the Beast.

It was a bit of a homecoming for DeGregory and the Accent on Dance program, since it started 10 years ago at Longstreth. Having it return during the school's final year was an important accomplishment for Principal Al Heinle.

"Mary Ellen Gilbert, our student support teacher, asked them every year to return," said Heinle. "We are so excited that they came back for our last year."


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