The Children’s School

Our B-Level Classes
Ballet Preparatory Division
Ages 6 - 9

Ms. Theresa Shampine, Artistic Director
Ms. Kolie Gilliam, Director of The Children’s Schoool

The Ballet Preparatory division of The Children’s School continues to teach the fundamentals of ballet technique in an engaging and loving atmosphere, encouraging creativity and individuality. Children will begin to see muscle memory improvement that correlates with training two times per week. Movement vocabulary, technique, musicality, and focus during class will be emphasized. Barre work will be introduced. Level B-II/III students will have the opportunity to enroll in an Introduction to Modern class to supplement their ballet training. We recommend a trial class to ensure correct level placement before officially enrolling. Class sizes are limited to 8.

All B-level students will participate in our annual spring performance in May. Additionally, B-level students will have the opportunity to participate in The Nutcracker: Land of Sweets and perform with The Canton City Ballet in December. All repertoire (rehearsal) for the spring performance and The Nutcracker will take place at a designated time outside of ballet technique class time. This is essential to maintain the integrity of the dancers’ training: Spending ballet technique time memorizing choreography is counterproductive to a dancer’s technical and artistic growth. Our priority in the Ballet Preparatory division is not to teach “routines”, but rather concentrate on teaching a solid technical foundation. As a result, our students understand that learning a dance is not the same thing as learning how to dance. They begin to cherish and be protective of their ballet technique time, while the seedling of respecting the art form of concert dance is firmly planted.

As students ascend the B-level classes, we continue to introduce the necessary etiquette, work ethic, patience, and persistence it will take to succeed in The Conservatory Training Program of our school. Students will be invited to audition for The Conservatory when they have attained the appropriate skill set and dedication level and are at least 7 years of age. The Children’s School graduates will be prepared and confident for their audition and are given priority placement in our Conservatory Training Program.