Pacific Northwest Ballet's large-scale education and outreach program Discover Dance has been awarded $40,000 for the 2009-2010 school year from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The program offers long-term in-school residencies that provide dance education to students who might not otherwise receive it and gives participants an opportunity to discover movement, creativity, choreography and performance.
"This is wonderful news," said Kayti Bouljon, PNB's outreach manager. "Last year, the Discover Dance program worked with five public elementary and middle schools in the Greater Seattle area. The NEA award will permit us to substantially increase our programming capacity in Seattle Public Schools next year, allowing up to 600 students to take part."
The culmination of the students' work will be showcased at two performances (Nov. 14, 2009, and April 24, 2010) at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall.
Pacific Northwest Ballet's Discover Dance Program was launched in 1998, and added a performance component two years later. The program brings dance education programs to Seattle and Eastside schools that might not otherwise have such opportunities.
More than 400 students (age 7 to 14) are given the opportunity to work with PNB staff over three- to five-month residencies, to create original choreographic works specifically designed to be integrated into their academic curriculum.
The students then perform their works onstage at McCaw Hall. Classes also get perks such as a behind-the-scenes look at a professional ballet company.[[In-content Ad]]
