C.O.R.P.S. students with guest artist Eleanor D'Antuono
C – Collaboration: working jointly with others O – Outreach: an organized effort to extend services beyond usual limits R – Recognition: an acknowledgement, favorable notice P – Performance: ability to perform, something accomplished, a deed or feat S – Scholars: a learned person, one who has done advanced study in a field

Recognizing that arts and academics should not be mutually exclusive, Portland School of Ballet entered into partnership with Portland High School (a National School of Excellence) in 1994 to create C.O.R.P.S., a performing arts high school program.

Students from around the region attend academic classes at Portland High School, where they are granted early release. These pre-professional dancers then attend Portland School of Ballet for 3 hours daily intensive ballet and enrichment classes. Curriculum offerings include Technique, Pointe, and Variations with rotations of modern, yoga, anatomy/kinesiology, dance history, nutrition, stagecraft, and audition preparation. Transcript credit in Health, Physical Education, and Fine Arts is earned through this innovative curriculum. Tuition assistance for advanced dancers is available through the Roxanne Rigoloso Scholarship Fund.

Snow Scene from PBC's The Victorian Nutcracker

"The dancers who have been involved with the Academic Partnership we have created have been wonderful citizens of Portland High School. Their active commitment to the school has been amazing-from class president, to the competitive Leadership Program, to National Honor Society. This innovative C.O.R.P.S. program celebrates the cultural diversity at Portland High and encourages collaborations across many classroom subjects." Dana Allen, Director of Secondary Education, Portland Public Schools.

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