American Ballet Theatre Gillespie School at Segerstrom Center for the Arts Announces Fall Registration

American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School at Segerstrom Center for the Arts offers an unmatched program for students ages 3 - 18 and has become one of the most respected ballet schools on the West Coast.

Combining the resources of American Ballet Theatre, America's National Ballet Company, and Segerstrom Center for the Arts, one of the nation's leading presenters of dance, the school offers unrivaled training, performing opportunities, Master Classes, lectures by visiting artists, and the highest quality of classical ballet training through the American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum.

Fall Registration is now open for new students in our Pre-Primary and Primary levels with an opportunity to explore ballet fundamentals, musicality, and fosters children's creativity, imagination and friendships. Students ages 8 and up are welcome to audition for Fall Registration. The ABT Gillespie School launched its first Boys Dance Too Program beginning in May 2021. Boys Dance Too is a new initiative to introduce boys between the ages of 6 - 12 to the art of ballet in a supportive environment and will continue throughout the Fall.

One of the singular advantages available to ABT Gillespie School students are opportunities to perform with the renowned ballet companies in the Center's International Dance Series. Since the school opened in 2015, students have appeared in ABT's annual performances of The Nutcracker, the world premiere of ABT's new production of The Sleeping Beauty (2015), the world premiere of ABT's production of Whipped Cream (2017), the Mikhailovsky Ballet's Don Quixote (2018), and the West Coast premiere of ABT's Harlequinade (2019). During the 2019-2020 school year, ABT Gillespie students performed in the Mariinsky Ballet's opulent production of La Bayadère (October 16 - 20) and will appear in ABT's The Nutcracker 2021.

ABT Gillespie Children's Division Director, Sarah Jones shares, "The ABT Gillespie School is more than just a ballet school. Even our youngest students are learning musicality, spatial awareness, strength, flexibility, terminology, discipline, confidence, and an overall love for the arts. Students see the fruits of their labor and build confidence as they progress through more and more challenging material each year. Being a student at the ABT Gillespie school will provide dancers the transferable skills to become whatever they dream of - whether that be a ballerina, a racecar driver, a CEO, or an Astronaut."

The ABT Gillespie School, under the direction of Alaine Haubert, herself a former ABT soloist and ballet mistress serves 300 students and encompasses a Pre-Professional Division for dancers ages 12-18 and a Children's Division for dancers 3-12. In addition to classes in classical ballet technique, pointe, men's training, character and body conditioning, variations, partnering and modern, the curriculum also includes live musical accompaniment for all ballet classes at all levels.

Former ABT Gillespie School students have been accepted into several prestigious ballet training programs including the American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School in New York and programs at San Francisco Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Pennsylvania Ballet, Houston Ballet, Boston Ballet, Ballet West, Paris Opera, and most recently within the last few weeks ABT Gillespie School Graduate, Mariana Vargas, will continue her ballet career by attending the Etoile Professional Program with imPerfect Dancers in Pisa, Italy.

The Center applauds the generous support of Mr. and Mrs. Andy Fimiano, Alexie Catherine Jones Memorial Fund, and the Pas de Deux Chapter of The Guilds of Segerstrom Center for the Arts, which has provided need-based scholarships to many young dancers. To learn more about the American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, please visit the Center's website at ww.SCFTA.org/Engage-and-Learn/ABT-William-J-Gillespie-Dance-School,or call 714-556-4100.

The American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School at Segerstrom Center for the Arts is an expansion of the longtime relationship between the Center and American Ballet Theatre. The school, which opened in September 2015, combines the resources of American Ballet Theatre, America's National Ballet Company, and Segerstrom Center, one of the world's leading presenters of dance. It offers unrivaled opportunities for training and nurturing future generations of dancers and dance audiences as well as furthering the development and evolution of dance. The school carries the name of Orange County philanthropist William J. Gillespie, who has been a board member of ABT since 1999 and an enthusiastic and generous donor to the Center for much of the institution's history.

The ABT Gillespie School provides students with the highest quality of classical ballet training through the American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum. ABT's National Training Curriculum is a comprehensive set of age-appropriate, outcome-based guidelines, with an emphasis on proper placement as well as safe progressions of movement while remaining sensitive to the needs of younger dancers. The curriculum offers students a rich knowledge of classical ballet technique incorporating elements of the French, Italian and Russian schools of training. The ABT Gillespie School is modeled after the program used at the renowned ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School in New York. Classes include classical ballet technique, pointe, men's training, character and body conditioning, variations, partnering and modern. All classes are held in the Center's studios, which are also used for rehearsals by the world's leading international ballet companies in the Center's dance series.

Beyond the professional ballet training, students are offered additional opportunities to enrich their ballet studies including priority opportunities to audition for ABT performances at the Center as well as participation in the ABT Summer Intensives, master classes, and special ticket offers for performances at the Center.

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