Carolina Ballet | Education

Vision
Carolina Ballet’s Education Program is designed for students to discover insights into themselves discovering skills, which develop self-confidence, the joy of creating and a deeper appreciation that comes from the development of skills and performance in ballet. It is then our hope that students will apply these concepts into every facet of their educational endeavors and throughout their lives fostering positive attitudes towards ballet and the arts.

Goals
• Enhance the quality of life for children, youth and adults
• Expose and educate children and the community on the concepts of ballet
• Generate interest in ballet through educational outreach opportunities for students
• Broaden Carolina Ballet’s audience potential through generating interest from students
• Work in conjunction with other Carolina Ballet staff members to incorporate the education program into every facet of Carolina Ballet’s organization
• Promote healthy lifestyles for children and the community

Mission
Our Education Program strives to educate students and the community about the concepts of ballet by promoting physical, emotional, intellectual and social development through a variety of educational experiences. The following objectives are interwoven within all aspects of our educational programs:

• Stimulate mental alertness and concentration
• Promote creative problem solving, decision-making and risk-taking
• Foster cognitive development
• Develop critical thinking
• Extend reasoning and communication skills
• Emphasize social studies – history (society and culture)
• Emphasize health related issues and healthy lifestyles
• Develop social relationship skills
• Develop an appreciation of cultural diversity
• Foster aesthetic values and improving quality of life
• Promote self esteem and self-expression

Students will come to know the importance of discipline, practice and persistence, which can apply to other aspects of their lives.

cARTwheels Program
Four of the state's finest theater, opera and ballet companies are performing across rural North Carolina this spring as part of an arts touring program for elementary school children. Approximately 30,000 students in predominantly rural counties will experience Carolina Ballet's Swan Lake and two movements from Monet Impressions; Cinderella by North Carolina Dance Theatre; The Pirates of Penzance by Opera Carolina; and Cosi fan Tutte by the Piedmont Opera.

The touring program includes curriculum based education materials to help teachers prepare students for the performance and explore connections between the performance and their schoolwork. The Arts Council has worked in cooperation with the Department of Public Instruction, local school districts and area arts councils.

For an in depth profile of the cARTwheels Program, click here.

To obtain a Teacher Resource Guide or Student Activity Book click on the links below..

cARTwheels Teacher Resource Guide

cARTwheels Student Activity Book

The guides are in Adobe Acrobat format, you can
download a free Adobe Acrobat Reader here.

Dancers in Schools Outreach Program
Dancers in Schools was established in 2003 through a generous grant from GlaxoSmithKline. The focus of our outreach program is to provide and expose pre-adolescent Fifth Grade students with a comprehensive educational program that emphasized healthful living, the development of critical and analytical thinking, cooperation and teamwork, foster creativity, encourage interest in the arts and challenge students to think in new ways. The program also includes:

• Teacher Resource guides and interactive student materials and activities
• Informance presentation provides students with an onsite demonstration of ballet movements, discussion on A Dancer’s Life and what it takes to become a professional dancer, question and answer segment and an opportunity to learn and practice ballet/dance movements at the conclusion
• Access to performances to neighboring schools and counties
Dancers in Schools has enlightened over 5,000 Fifth grade students during our 1st year with the intent to reach an additional 10,000 students in the 2005 – 2006 school year.

For an in depth profile of the Dancers In Schools Program, click here.

To download the Dancers In Schools Teacher and Student Resource Guide,
click here.

The guides are in Adobe Acrobat format, you can
download a free Adobe Acrobat Reader here.

To explore the Dancers in Schools interactive CD-ROM online click on the link below. Program will load in a new window in approximately 5 minutes.

Dancers in Schools

You will need Adobe Flash Player 6.0 or higher, you can
download a free Adobe Flash Player here.

Counties Served by cARTwheels and Dancers in Schools since 2003

Student Performances
Area Elementary, Middle and High school students are invited to a November student performance of the Nutcracker through the generous support from Progress Energy

To download the Nutcracker Teacher and Student Resource Guide,
click here.

Ballet Talks
Providing informational “Ballet Talks” for groups before performances and/or at Parent Teacher Association (PTA) or Organization (PTO) meetings. These talks include some information on the Company, the ballet they are about to see or current performance, the music, costumes or history of the production. Questions are welcome and normally these talks are given one hour prior to the performance in the upstairs balcony of the auditorium. For a PTA or PTO meeting, our 1 hour Ballet Talk is provided at the school and will also include the benefits of exposing children to the arts.

For additional information contact:
Laurie Tollerton
Adminstrative and Education Director
Carolina Ballet
3401 – 131 Atlantic Ave.
Raleigh, NC 27604
(919) 719-0800 ext 228