New Haven Ballet returns to ECA ACES Arts Hall on Friday, May 10, at 6:30 p.m. to celebrate young dancers participating in this year’s DanceAIR program.
New Haven Ballet’s DanceAIR program offers free in-school ballet classes to young children at New Haven public elementary schools. Through partnerships established with New Haven public schools and LEAP (Leadership, Education and Athletics in Partnership, Inc.), New Haven Ballet provides high-quality arts education, expands students’ understanding and appreciation of dance and the performing arts, teaches basic dance technique and choreography, and allows children to express themselves artistically by combining musicality and rhythm. Students experience the artistry and musicality of dance, which emphasizes self-discipline, athleticism, coordination, creativity, strength, balance, and flexibility.
The recently established offerings at the Dixwell Community House (Q House) grew out of interest when New Haven Ballet offered a free performance of Nutcracker excerpts at the Q House, which serves families in the Dixwell and Newhallville neighborhoods of New Haven. “The performance attracted a standing-room-only audience, which led New Haven Ballet and Q House to develop a long-term partnership with free weekly dance classes at Q House,” notes Artistic Director Lisa Kim Sanborn.
Sanborn states, “We began last spring, and the program has now expanded to three classes held each Friday evening, with sixty-seven students enrolled.”
A testament to the program’s growing popularity and the joy it brings, twenty-seven DanceAIR and Q House students performed with New Haven Ballet’s student Company last December to showcase their talent in the Q House holiday dance concert, once again attracting a full house. According to Sanborn, “Seven DanceAIR students had the opportunity to perform in our public performances of The Nutcracker on stage at New Haven’s historic Shubert Theatre, where over 4,000 audience members shared in nurturing our young talented dancers, witnessing their excitement and passion for dance. New Haven Ballet is proud of the success of DanceAIR, which is a testament to the support and involvement of our community. This year, we are offering free in-school ballet classes to over forty-five young children at five New Haven public elementary schools,” which Sanborn continues is “a significant increase from last year,” where ninety percent of the students are children of color and approximately seventy percent are eligible for free/reduced-price meals.
New Haven Schools offering DanceAIR training include Fair Haven School, Truman School, Edgewood Creative Thinking through STEAM Magnet School, Lincoln-Bassett Community School, and Barack H. Obama Magnet University School. These students will be joined by Q House students and New Haven Ballet Company dancers for a one-hour performance at ECA ACES Arts Hall, 55 Audubon Street, New Haven, on Friday, May 10, at 6:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. The performance is one hour long and FREE admission.
New Haven Ballet is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. This performance is made possible through the generosity and support of our partners, ECA ACES, the City of New Haven Department of Arts, Culture, and Tourism, the Anna Fitch Ardenghi Trust, the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, and our valued partnership with the Dixwell Community House. We are deeply grateful for their contributions and belief in our mission to provide high-quality arts education to young children in New Haven.
