2021 Mayor's Arts Award Nominee: Muncie Ballet Studio
Why are the arts important in Muncie? What do the arts do for the community?
The arts build community and create a sense of belonging. Our community is impacted when children become advocates for the arts because of their experiences.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Muncie Ballet Studio was created to provide children with opportunities to create a lifelong appreciation for classical music and dance in ballet theatre and classical music productions regardless of family income or resources.
What is your creative practice and how did you get started?
Muncie Ballet was created as a non-competitive dance theatre program to provide ballet instruction using classical music. No spoken words or lyrics are used to share our stories. Children use mime and dance to express themselves.
What do you wish others knew about your practice? What is a fun fact about what you do?
Muncie Ballet Studio uses only classical music for our performances. The Children's Nutcracker is the only production that we use the original score. All other performances use a compilation of classical music which is used to create the ballet. Each fall and spring, hundreds of tri-county Indiana school children wait anxiously for the curtain to open, for many, their first ballet performance.
A fun fact, East Elementary first grade classes have attended the Children's Nutcracker school matinee performance for 20 years, Muncie Ballet matinee performances have reached over 18,000 children.
Where can people see your work or learn more about you?
Come experience the joy and happiness of our productions The Children's Nutcracker Community dates are Thursday, December 16, 7 PM, Friday, December 17, 7 PM or Saturday, December 18, 2 PM at Cornerstone Center for the Arts Auditorium. The spring production will be May 19-21, 2002. Visit MuncieBallet.org to learn more.
How did you become interested in the arts?
Having the opportunity to dance and perform in a ballet theatre setting as a child provided the inspiration to share the opportunity with others.
