In recognition of its significant role as a cultural ambassador to regional children, Pioneer Valley Ballet has been awarded a Mass Cultural Council Cultural Investment Portfolio (CIP) Peers Grant to expand its Educational Outreach Program.
Each year PVB hosts developmentally-appropriate school day programs to coordinate with winter and spring productions at Northampton’s Academy of Music. The Educational Outreach Program is led by an experienced educator/dancer who leads students on a journey into the world of ballet, exploring dance vocabulary and popular ballet steps, the many elements of a ballet production, and what it takes to be a dancer. Students meet choreographers and dancers, learn about costume and set design, and see how it all comes together in a captivating performance. Interactive, educational, and entertaining, the program features scenes and performers — including area high school students — from the current production. Since 2008 hundreds of school children from PreK-5th grade have participated, and the numbers keep growing.
“We are thrilled by this affirmation of PVB’s cultural relevance, both to our region and to Massachusetts as a whole,” states PVB executive director SerahRose Roth. “We are grateful to the Massachusetts Cultural Council for their commitment to our ballet studio and to regional schoolchildren.” Acknowledging PVB’s ongoing commitment to its outreach program, the award letter noted “MCC staff and panelists were impressed by the work you [PVB] are doing to increase public value for the citizens of Massachusetts.”
More information about participating in PVB’s Educational Outreach Program.
