We are thrilled for the upcoming Professional Dance Experience beginning July 24 and all the dancing opportunities it has to offer! Here we will be highlighting two of our guest faculty members — Matthew Powell and Kelsey Bartman. Providing the dancers who attend our intensive with the highest quality of teachers is of utmost importance when planning the summer schedule.
The Company at Berks Ballet Theatre wrapped their Spring show, “Innovations,” to delighted audiences and a great review by the local press. Filled with contemporary, neoclassical work, and a dramatic 26-minute “Salute to Sousa,” the show was a well-rounded way to close out the season. “10 senior corps members gave a thrilling performance, filled with snappy moves, quick turns, precise
Berks Ballet Theatre Conservatory of Dance & Berks Ballet Theatre Company congratulates Kelly Barber on her recent milestone. Kelly has been the Artistic Director at BBT for ten years–a true accomplishment! Kelly’s contributions to the the arts community in Berks County is immeasurable, and she has enriched the lives of countless students. BBT is so happy have Kelly as part of
Only 3 days until BBTCD will compete at Youth America Grand Prix*! We are excited to be taking 6 dancers this year and entering the Pre-competitive category for the first time. A lot of time and hard work goes into the preparation for this weekend. I would estimate around 250 hours of rehearsals since September between all the dancers!
Berks Ballet Theatre has just returned from another successful year at the Delaware Dance Festival(DDF) — It has become a yearly tradition to attend DDF, one that we all look forward to! Artistic Director Kelly Barber started the tradition back in 2011 and every year that BBT has attended it has grown by leaps and bounds. There were over 200
The holiday season is here and Berks Ballet Theatre is gearing up for a weekend of “The Nutcracker” performances. If you don’t have your tickets yet, click here. Some exciting news to share: two of our pre-professional ballet students, Gabby Beauvais and Allison Welch are featured on this week’s Reading Eagle Weekend cover! Check out the cover and click through to read
Summer is certainly upon us with all the sweltering heat we’ve been having! With summer comes, summer intensives. BBTCD’s Summer Intensive for dancers 10 and up begins July 25 and runs through August 19. Along with Conservatory faculty, we have 2 exciting guest instructors. Week 1 | Conservatory Owner / Director Nathan Bland and Principal Teacher Kelly Barber will focus
How important is it for young dancers to train based on their age? It’s a question that’s often debated amongst parents, teachers and dancers themselves. Good dance programs will build a solid foundation before pushing young dancers beyond the limits of their growing bodies. A solid foundation includes coordination, musicality, spacial awareness, flexibility, strength and the ability to focus and
Berks Ballet Theatre has performed ‘The Nutcracker‘ for the past 39 years. Not since 1994 has a company member had the opportunity to take on the role of ‘The Sugar Plum Fairy’. For the 2015 production not one, but two senior company members will take on this coveted role. This role is one of the most challenging to perform in
“The Nutcracker” is a classical holiday ballet with roots dating back to the 19th century. It premiered in Russia in 1892 at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre with choreography by Marius Petipa, a French ballet dancer, teacher and instructor and Russian-born dancer and teacher, Lev Ivanov. Surprisingly, the show with the soaring Tchaikovsky score was not as revered back then, with
