School children attending PSB Lecture Demonstration

LECTURE - DEMONSTRATIONS

Portland School of Ballet reaches over 2,500 students each year with its lecture - demonstration performances, which have been an integral part of PSB throughout its history. This format provides an opportunity for PSB's students to visit Maine schools and promote the understanding of ballet as an art form. Schoolchildren are invited to participate in the demonstrations (teachers, too) and to observe selections from repertory. These performances create a bridge for young dancers aspiring to join Portland Ballet Company.

PSB's Peter and the Wolf youth concert

YOUTH CONCERTS

The theater based Youth Concert series brings ballet performance to the stage for student groups. These concerts offer the unique experience of a live ballet performance, which is a once in a life time opportunity for many in the audience. Each December, a special performance of The Victorian Nutcracker is presented to school groups from around the region. The Spring Youth Concert series is a 3 year cycle featuring Peter and the Wolf, Dreambirds, and Firebird.

CITY DANCE

CityDance is an outreach program of Portland School of Ballet that brings dance into urban elementary schools. This program was started in 1993 by director Eugenia O'Brien as a way to reach out to non-English speaking children. (Over 37 languages are represented in the Portland Public Schools). Movement and music are universal languages, thus ballet is a uniquely appropriate way to reach out to children isolated by cultural barriers.

Each year, Portland Ballet presents an 8 week residency at an inner-city elementary school. This residency culminates in a performance open to all. Children are then invited to audition for scholarship study at Portland School of Ballet. Teachers and schools have enthusiastically endorsed the results of the CityDance program, seeing many positive changes in children's lives. In the words of one mother, "My son was chosen, somebody cared enough about my kid to look inside and see what is really there. This is a chance to show what he can do. Without these people my son wouldn't have a start in life."

GOODWILL CLASSES

Director Eugenia O’Brien teaches classes for the Goodwill Lifeskills Program for mentally retarded adults. This 6 week session brings members of this program to Portland Ballet’s studios to learn about dance in an authentic setting. The session culminates with a studio showing for family and friends of the students.

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