As the official school of Boston Ballet, and under the direction of Mikko Nissinen, Boston Ballet School promotes excellence and access to the art form of ballet through dance education with a goal of inspiring a life-long love of dance in every student. The School offers a progressive curriculum with programs designed for students of all ages and levels. Boston Ballet School offers comprehensive ballet training through four core programs: Children’s Program, Classical Ballet Program, Adult Dance Program and the Pre-Professional Program.
Boston Ballet School has three state-of-the-art locations serving the greater Boston area: our original home in the South End of Boston, in the Metro West town of Newton and the North Shore Community of Marblehead. Each of our three studio locations offers our Children’s Program, Classical Ballet Program, and Adult Dance Program. The Pre-Professional Program is housed at the Boston Studio (the company’s headquarters). Our four core programs all include school-year and summer offerings to provide year-round training for approximately 3,000 students annually. Founded over 53 years ago by E. Virginia Williams, Boston Ballet School consistently provides the highest quality training at every level, in every program through:
• Internationally renowned faculty
• A strong ballet curriculum with enrichments in character, modern dance and Pilates
• Live piano accompaniment in ballet classes, beginning at age 5
• Performing opportunities with Boston Ballet, such as The Nutcracker and other productions
• A unique connection to a world-class company
Boston Ballet School graduates have gone on to successful careers in various areas. Many have joined professional dance companies such as Boston Ballet, Cincinatti Ballet, Ballet Austin, Houston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theatre, Pennsylvania Ballet, National Ballet of Canada and Hamburg Ballet, while others pursue academic careers at Harvard University, Boston College, Indiana University and Stanford among others.
EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
While excellence in technical training is crucial to our mission, our job as arts educators goes well beyond technique as we support the development of the whole student. The BBS philosophy strives to create and maintain a nurturing environment for all our students. We have high expectations for our students to learn, to grow and to achieve so they can reach their full potential. Our faculty work hard to foster our student’s individual development, to correct and guide along the way and to thoughtfully communicate progress in a positive and supportive manner. Each student will grow and develop at his/her own rate, in his/her own time, and we truly celebrate each individual’s unique journey through our school.
BBS’s goal is to provide excellence and access to the art form of ballet through a dance education. BBS strives to:
- Deliver comprehensive ballet training to a broad-based student body with our unique model
- Instill value, life-skills and health benefits through the educational process specific to the study of dance, emphasizing and celebrating the process/journey (not end-product focused)
- Create life-long dance and arts lovers, advocates and audience members
- Train future professionals for Boston Ballet and the field of dance
THE STUDENT’S JOURNEY
In order to best meet the needs of all of our students, considerable care and attention is given to the placement of our students.
- Students aged nine and older with previous ballet training, are asked to take a placement class to determine the program and level of study best suited to their abilities.
- Students aged nine-months through eight are placed by age.
Advancement through BBS is based on many factors including a student’s strength, physical development, effort, mastery of material, maturity, attendance record and artistic development as assessed by her or his teacher(s) and Principal. In all cases, a student’s ability to safely execute the required class material is considered above all other factors including age.
Because our work is so closely connected to each individual’s physical development, unlike academic advancement, it is not unusual for a student to repeat a level of ballet training. Many of our students will repeat a level at some point in their training. It is critically important that students advance at their own rate so they master the work demanded of them, avoid injury and achieve to their fullest potential. Parents are encouraged to participate in their child’s dance education by observing their progress during our scheduled “Peek Weeks,” attending performances with their child and participating in BBS Parent Association activities.
Learn all about Boston Ballet School in this series of videos.
Photo by Jared Redick
