American Repertory Ballet to Present On Pointe Enrichment Series Event, 2/7

On February 7, 2014 at 5:15pm, American Repertory Ballet will present its first On Pointe Enrichment Series event specifically aimed at children as young as 2 years, and their families, entitled "Telling Stories Through Dance." It will take place at Princeton Ballet School at 301 N. Harrison Street in the Princeton Shopping Center, above McCaffrey's Supermarket.

At "Telling Stories through Dance," American Repertory Ballet Trainees and members of American Repertory Ballet Workshop (ARBW), a performing group comprised of Princeton Ballet School's advanced students, will perform Matthew Keefe's Grumpy Bird and excerpts from Princeton Ballet School's Spring 2014 Production of The Sleeping Beauty. Grumpy Bird is a lively and humorous dance program in one act based off the children's book by Jeremy Tankard. The Sleeping Beauty is a full-length classical ballet which tells the story of Princess Aurora, the sleeping spell cast over her kingdom by the evil fairy Carabosse, and the Prince who breaks the spell with a kiss. ARB Workshop dancers will present select variations from the ballet.

Discussion of storytelling in dance will be led by ARB Resident Choreographer Mary Barton, ARBW Administrator Cheryl Whitney-Marcuard, and ARB Director of Educational Programming Lisa Beth Vettoso. Barton and Whitney-Marcuard both also are long-time faculty members at Princeton Ballet School and serve as ballet masters for the ARBW program. They also both direct the students' rehearsals - Barton the oldest and most advanced groups, and Whitney-Marcuard the younger students. Barton also trains and coaches the Trainee division, which performs and rehearses with American Repertory Ballet in addition to ARBW. As Director of Educational Programming, Vettoso works extensively with ARB's DANCE POWER programs, including rehearsing the DANCE POWER Scholars and Dance Mix students in New Brunswick. She also directs ARB's other Access & Enrichment initiatives. This includes planning ARB's school time matinees and assembly programs. Grumpy Bird has been performed as part of an assembly program at numerous preschools and elementary schools around the state.

All of American Repertory Ballet's On Pointe events are free and open to the public.