Boston Ballet opens new school on North Shore
August 2, 2005

Boston Ballet will open a new branch of Boston Ballet School at a state-of-the-art YMCA facility to be built in Salem, MA. The official announcement will be made Tuesday, August 2 at a press conference at Salem City Hall by Mayor Stanley J. Usovicz and Mikko Nissinen, artistic director of Boston Ballet and Boston Ballet Center for Dance Education.

Boston Ballet School North Shore Studio, scheduled to open in July, 2007, has been made possible through a generous grant by Henri and Belinda Termeer. The School will consist of 10,000 square feet on the second floor of the Leggs Hill YMCA, which will be located in a bucolic setting on Leggs Hill Road. The space will be divided into four studios and administrative offices to support year-round dance and outreach programming for children and adults in collaboration with the Y.

Both non-profit organizations share a common goal in promoting health, well-being, and community building, and seek to provide the ultimate convenience for North Shore families in an all inclusive arts and recreation facility.

"Boston Ballet and Boston Ballet School are thrilled to have a presence on the North Shore and we are excited about our partnership with the North Shore Y," said Nissinen. "Our mission is to bring high quality dance education to broader and more diverse segments of the community, to increase arts literacy, and to develop a new generation of artists. We believe that the North Shore Branch of Boston Ballet School will enrich the cultural life of this community."

Boston Ballet Center for Dance Education, with studios in Bostonâ€™s South End, Newton and Norwell, is already the largest ballet school in North America. Over 3,000 students, ranging from pre-schoolers to adults, participate in its year-round programs.

Programs planned for the North Shore Studio will include:

Rhythm and Movement, Creative Dance, and Pre-Ballet for ages 3- 7
Standard and intensive classical ballet training for ages 8-15
Teen Classes and Adult Classes
Summer programs
Performance opportunities
Special YMCA partnership programs
Outreach programs in the form of workshops in area public schools

Amenities at the Leggs Hill YMCA include indoor and outdoor pools, cafeteria, gymnasium, aerobic studios, a playing field, ample parking and a day care center.

Boston Ballet and the North Shore YMCA will undertake a joint fundraising campaign to generate support for the facilities and to build and fund planned community outreach programs.

# # #

Boston Ballet, founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams, was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. Throughout its history, Boston Ballet has been committed to maintaining a repertoire that combines timeless classics such as The Sleeping Beauty, La Sylphide, and Swan Lake, with the imaginative visions of todayâ€™s most innovative choreographers. Boston Ballet operates an affiliate school with a student body of more than 2,000; in addition to classes for ages 3 to 21, Boston Ballet School offers numerous educational and outreach programs and activities for the community. Boston Ballet, under the direction of Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen and Executive Director Valerie Wilder, currently includes 48 full-time Company members along with 11 members of Boston Ballet II, a pre-professional second company. Boston Ballet presents a selection of exhilarating world premieres, neoclassical and contemporary work from world-renowned choreographers, and classic full-length ballets during the 2004-2005 season.