Portland School Of Ballet

Programs: Ballet training: psb enrolled over 150 students last year, providing ballet instruction to students between the ages of 4 and 70. The nationally-recognized corps program for high-school-aged pre-professional dancers had another successful year. 100% of these students were accepted into nationally competitive summer programs such as american ballet theater, school of american ballet, joffrey ballet, and others. The adaptive dance program served +10 children who live with challenges such as downs syndrome, autism, and cerebral palsy.

educational outreach and performance: psb brought lecture-demonstrations into area schools and senior living facilities, exposing school children and senior citizens to the artistry and athleticism of ballet. Student dancers also danced as part of the town of kennebunks's may day festivities, as well as performing for the victoria mansion, the childrens museum of maine, portland high school, and as part of the portland symphony orchestra discovery series. The school group performances of "the victorian nutcracker" and "red riding hood" brought groups from over 20 different schools/3000 children to the theater to see the ballets. Teachers prepared their students for these performances by using our pre-performance educational guides, which are aligned with maine's learning results.

performance: portland ballet company presented a full season of dance including halloween spooktacular, jack the ripper, the victorian nutcracker, boy meets girl, and a midsummers night's dream. Pbc continued the series of free and accessible performances in the front window of the portland public library as part of the first friday art walk. This professional company also provides performance training opportunities for psb's advanced dancers. Many student dancers are cast in our annual production of the victorian nutcracker, and our advanced dancers serve as understudies to each of the professional performances. These opportunities provide psb students with essential performing experience and a glimpse into the life of a professional dancer.

portland ballet studio theatre (pbst): the studio theatre has continued to provide a creative space and gallery to the city of portland. The space has hosted a number of portland ballet and portland school of ballet shows along with a host of local peformers and artists. We have expanded the use of the space to allow other local groups to perform, rehearse, and collaborate in an environment that is conducive to creativity.