Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School Connects Students To Local Pittsburgh Dance Artists During Pandemic

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School (PBT School) continued to innovate and expand class offerings during the COVID-19 pandemic through the Pittsburgh Connections Class Series. The series began in September 2020 and concluded on the final weekend of March 2021. The series was fully virtual and students met and took class with a new guest artist each Saturday for an hour.

Pre-professional Students (ages 13+) typically have class six days a week including Saturdays. PBT School has offered live, in-studio classes at PBT Studios in the Strip District for the majority of the school year. Pre-professional students take class in the studios from Monday through Friday and virtual classes on Saturday. The opportunity to access a variety of dance artists virtually became the inspiration for the Pittsburgh Connection Class Series, thanks to PBT School instructor Jamie Erin Murphy. Murphy is also a freelance dance artist within the Pittsburgh dance community and was able to use her connections to offer a variety of classes in the series, ranging in style from contemporary ballet and jazz to West African, Latin ballroom and Indian Kathak.

The purpose of the series was to connect students to local dance professionals, while also expanding their awareness of different dance forms, voices and styles within the community. PBT School hopes to continue offering the series for future school years and plans to offer it in-person at the PBT Studios once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.

Learn more about the Pittsburgh Guest Connections Series at: https://www.pbt.org/blog/connecting-in-new-ways-in-the-time-of-covid-19/