Article: A Parents’ Field Guide to Ballet
Everything you need to know so you're good to go to the ballet!
Ballet

Everyday Arts Challenge: Heavy Hand
Draw a picture of a ballerina without picking your pen or pencil off the paper. Is it easy or hard to do? What else can you draw like this?
Visual Arts, Ballet

Article: The Pas De Deux: It Takes Two
The pas de deux is not just a dance of love
Dance Legends, Ballet, Dance, Music

Article: Music as Dance’s Muse
Music is a muse for four different American choreographers
Choreographers, Music, Dance, Ballet

Master + Work: George Balanchine and Agon
Discover why Balanchine has been called "the father of American Ballet" and even the greatest choreographer of all time
Ballet, Dance, Dance Legends, Choreographers

Cuesheet: Danish Dance Theater: Love Songs
At this working rehearsal, the company presents Love Songs, an original work that explores human emotions and relationships, set to reinterpreted jazz classics originally sung by Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughn.
Jazz, Dance, Ballet

Lesson: Nureyev: The Unconquerable Will
This lesson provides an overview of how creative expression developed in the West, particularly in the development of dance.
Choreographers, Dance Legends, Ballet, World Cultures

Lesson: Nureyev: After Petipa
Nureyev’s early life and work were affected by changing social, political, and cultural forces in Russia. His artistic genius was influenced by the work of Marius Petipa.
Dance Legends, Ballet, World Cultures, Choreographers

Lesson: Nureyev: Bringer of Light
This lesson focuses on the alignment of Nureyev’s artistic endeavors and achievements in the dance world of the West.
Choreographers, Dance Legends, Ballet, World Cultures

Lesson: Ballet and Classical Music
This lesson will introduce students to both conceptual and practical elements of classical ballet.
Ballet, Dance, Music, Orchestra

Arts Quotes: Anna Pavlova
"Master technique and then forget about it and be natural."
Ballet, Europe, Dance, Dance Legends

Arts Quotes: Ludmilla Chiriaeff
"Ladanse,c'est le mouvement,et le mouvement, c'est la vie.
Dance is movement, and movement is life."
Dance Legends, Dance, Ballet

Arts Quotes: Erik Bruhn
"Dance every performance as if it were your last.'
Dance Legends, Dance, Ballet, Europe

Arts Quotes: George Balanchine
"I don't want people who want to dance, I want people who have to dance."
Choreographers, Dance Legends, Ballet, Dance

Arts Quotes: Mikhail Baryshnikov
"The essence of all art is to have pleasure in giving pleasure."
Dance Legends, Dance, Ballet

Arts Quotes: Margot Fonteyn
"Genius is another word for magic, and the whole point of magic is that it is inexplicable."
Ballet, Dance, Dance Legends

Arts Quotes: Arlene Croce
"Good choreography fuses eye, ear, and mind."
Ballet, Choreographers, Dance, Dance Legends

Everyday Arts Challenge: Long Legs
Perform a grand jeté, or leap, like a ballet dancer. Measure the distance you go. Does it help to have a running start?
Ballet, Sports, Physical Activity, Dance

Arts Days: March 27, 1934: Breaking Ballet’s Barriers
After learning to tap dance as a child, Arthur Mitchell wowed a teacher with his version of the jitterbug, a dance popular in the 1940s. Mitchell was encouraged to apply at New York’s High School of Performing Arts. After graduation, Mitchell went on to win a scholarship to the famed School of American Ballet, then to join the New York City Ballet. There, he was told he would have to work twice as hard as the white dancers to be accepted.

In 1957, he performed George Balanchine’s Agon to audiences shocked at the sight of a white woman paired with a black male dancer. Mr. Balanchine ignored the attention, and at 21, Mitchell became the first black male principal dancer of a major dance company and a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1993.
Ballet, Dance, Dance Legends, Innovators & Pioneers

Arts Days: January 22, 1904: A Ballet Master is Born
George Balanchine was one of the most prolific, and often considered the most influential, ballet choreographers of the 20th century. Born on this day in Saint Petersburg, Russia, he revolutionized classical ballet by eliminating complex plots and emphasizing movements that expressed music.

Balanchine created more than 400 ballets and founded the New York City Ballet. His artistry and fresh approach helped popularize ballet in the United States. Balanchine worked with thousands of dancers and created more than 400 ballets.
Choreographers, Dance Legends, Ballet, Dance

Arts Days: January 28, 1948: Ballet’s Leading Man
Mikhail Baryshnikov is often considered one of the greatest ballet dancers of the 20th century, known for his dynamic stage presence and effortless grasp of classical technique.

In 1974, after professional training and a promising start at the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, he defected from the Soviet Union to seek artistic and personal freedom in the West. Baryshnikov made his Western debut with the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) that same year, dancing in the classic ballet Giselle.

He stayed with ABT for four years before moving to the New York City Ballet, where he worked with choreographers George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. He returned to ABT in 1980 as principal dancer and artistic director, distinguished positions he held for almost a decade.

Since then, Baryshnikov has dabbled in acting in both film and television. In 2000, he was a Kennedy Center honoree.
Dance Legends, Ballet, Dance

Article: Cracking Open The Nutcracker
Explore the most popular ballet of all time
Ballet, Dance, Choreographers, Composers, Folklore

Series: Master + Work
Meet the masters...the talented artists who have created some of the most outstanding achievements of the twentieth century
Ballet, Choreographers, Composers, Dance Legends, Music Legends

Cuesheet: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Performance/Demonstration
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater shares "Ailey Magic" with students, giving insights into the history of the company and its founder Alvin Ailey.
Backstage, Ballet, Choreographers, Dance, Dance Legends

Arts Quotes: George Balanchine
"First comes the sweat. Then comes the beauty if you're very lucky and have said your prayers."
Backstage, Dance Legends, Ballet, Dance, Choreographers