1801 Gilbert Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45202
CincyDance!
Cincinnati Ballet (CB) serves as the region’s premier dance company and the home of the Otto M. Budig Academy, the area’s preeminent classical ballet training program with a mission to inspire excellence through the power of dance. Taught by nationally and internationally recognized faculty, the Academy offers comprehensive dance education through three school-year divisions, adult fitness classes, and specialized summer training programs. CincyDance! is CB’s cornerstone education and community engagement initiative with the goal of making ballet and dance training accessible to students who would otherwise not have the opportunity.
Through CincyDance! Cincinnati Ballet teaching artists conduct 4–6-week residences in 3rd grade classrooms. The residencies enforce national and state curriculum standards and twenty-first century skills including critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity through ballet exercises. In addition to the health, personal, and academic benefits of dance classes, the residency experiences are also used to identify students with the passion and aptitude to continue their dance training at a higher level. These students are invited to audition for an 18-week, tuition-free Ballet Foundations class. Thirty or more students are admitted into Ballet Foundations, the class acts as a bridge from their residency to the Academy. Five-six students are granted a lifetime scholarship each year to the Otto M. Budig Academy. And the newer programmatic component, Story Choreography Project, helps fifth-grade students find common ground through dance despite often coming from very different backgrounds by assigning participating students a pen pal from another class or school. These students then receive writing prompts which are then eventually made into stories and then choreographed dances with the help of professional dancers.
The 2019-2020 season started out like any other season before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted our communities, schools, and lives. Even so, the program achieved impressive results. CincyDance! reached 1,990 third grade students at 38 schools through traditional and virtual offerings via three of the four CincyDance! Components: Residencies, Ballet Foundations classes, and Scholarships. Residencies served all of these students. Sixty students auditioned for Ballet Foundations, 42 were invited to take the class, and 6 received scholarships. Another 25 talented students (grades 4-12) studied classical and contemporary dance this season under full, lifetime scholarships to Cincinnati Ballet’s Otto M. Budig Academy.
Unfortunately, the Story Choreography Project had to be canceled. Because the program does not start until May each year and schools were forced to prevent outside personnel from entering their buildings starting in March due to COVID-19, this component of CincyDance! was suspended until next season.
Teacher and students survey results overwhelmingly reported that they found the program effective in instilling the intended skills, self-esteem, and sense of empowerment.
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