American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School Offers Online Classes For Children Ages 2-8

American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School at Segerstrom Center for the Arts is partnering with ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (JKO) School to bring faculty and teaching artists certified in the ABT National Training Curriculum to your child at home.

Children and parents can tune into @ABTSchool on Instagram and the ABT YouTube Channel for daily classes in ballet movement taught by former ABT dancers, and faculty from both schools. The classes will be available through Instagram TV (IGTV) and the ABT YouTube Channel, accessible for ABT Gillespie and JKO students, as well as the global community at large. Daily classes will engage ABT's youngest students and their families by exploring musicality, fostering creativity and imagination, and teaching ballet fundamentals.

Alaine Haubert, principal of the ABT Gillespie School, shares, "We at the ABT Gillespie School are very pleased to join our sister school, ABT JKO, in New York in providing these free online ballet classes for children ages 2-8. What a wonderful and unprecedented way to introduce young people to the beautiful art of classical ballet and, simultaneously, reach our students currently enrolled in classes to continue training through this special technology."

Classes are pre-recorded and will be uploaded at the following times:

ABTots (Ages 2-4): Tuesdays & Thursdays at 7:00AM PST/ 10:00AM EST

Primary (Ages 5-8): Mondays & Wednesdays at 11:00AM PST/ 2:00PM EST

Classes will be saved on the @ABTSchool IGTV feed for access following the initial broadcast as well as the official ABT YouTube Channel.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6qlnI9dq17wduIdXtCaQH5FKwibKVnRJ

The Center applauds the generous support of William J. Gillespie, Mr. and Mrs. Andy Fimiano, The Copas Roach Living Trust, 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.

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.

American Ballet Theatre is one of the great dance companies in the world. Few ballet companies equal ABT for its combination of size, scope and outreach. Recognized as a living national treasure since its founding in 1940, ABT tours the United States, performing for more than 300,000 people annually, and is the only major cultural institution to do so. For 78 years, the Company has appeared in a total of 132 cities in 50 countries and has performed in all 50 states of the United States. Under the artistic direction of Kevin Mckenzie since 1992, ABT has recently enjoyed triumphant successes with engagements in Paris, Brisbane, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo. On April 27, 2006, by an act of Congress, American Ballet Theatre became America's National Ballet Company.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts is an acclaimed arts institution as well as a beautiful multi-disciplinary cultural campus. It is committed to supporting artistic excellence, offering unsurpassed experiences and to engaging the entire community in new and exciting ways through the unique power of live performance as well as a diverse array of inspiring arts-based education and community engagement programs.

Previously called the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Segerstrom Center is Orange County's largest non-profit arts organization. In addition to its six performance venues, Segerstrom Center is also home to the American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School and the School of Dance and Music for Children with Disabilities.

The Center presents a broad range of programming for audiences of all ages, featuring international ballet and dance companies, national tours of top Broadway shows, jazz and cabaret, contemporary artists, classical music performed by renowned chamber orchestras and ensembles, family-friendly programming, and free performances on its plaza, such as outdoor movie screenings, concerts, community and cultural festivals.

Segerstrom Center is a leader among the nation's performing arts centers for providing education programs designed to inspire young people through the arts. The Center's programs reach hundreds of thousands of students each year in five Southern California counties. The CDI supports flagship artistic programming and a wide range of projects that celebrate innovation, nurture creativity and engage audiences of the future. The Center Without Boundaries develops partnerships with non-cultural organizations to help them in their own efforts to respond to the ever-changing needs of the community.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts is also proud to serve as the artistic home to three of the region's major performing arts organizations: Pacific Symphony, Philharmonic Society of Orange County and Pacific Chorale. Each contributes greatly to the artistic life of the region with annual seasons performed at the Center.

In addition to Segerstrom Center for the Arts as a presenting and producing institution, it also identifies the beautiful 14-acre campus that embraces the Center's own facilities as well as two independently acclaimed organizations: Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory and a site designated as the future home of the Orange County Museum of Arts.

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