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En Pointe

Enriching Public Education with Classical Ballet

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About

Norwalk Metropolitan Youth Ballet is excited to launch our Project En Pointe. Adopt a Dancer for a life long relationship through classical ballet. Support an Elementary School to bring the classical arts back to our children and communities!

Project En Pointe is a unique initiative developed by Norwalk Metropolitan Youth Ballet which brings a taste of ballet to elementary school students in the public, private, and parochial schools of the Greater Norwalk Area. En Pointe provides students with a creative dance experience that concentrates on four distinct areas of involvement: awareness, application, appreciation and assessment. Our instructional approach is the embodiment of Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence and supports the standards of excellence and comprehension as outlined within Bloom’s Taxonomy. En Pointe is a profoundly deep learning experience which uses dance as a launching point, guaranteeing a journey which is artistic, physical, community oriented and yet at the same time, individualized.

En Pointe is offered to students from grades 2-4, depending on the needs of each individual school. It is taught over a period of three days and on the fourth day, the En Pointe students perform a piece of original choreography in an assembly for the rest of the school.

Students who participate in En Pointe ballet residencies are often children who have never experienced ballet before. An En Pointe ballet residency gives them the opportunity to explore ballet in an energetic, enthusiastic environment. Not only are the children being taught pedestrian ballet movements and an original piece of choreography to perform for their peers, they learn ballet terminology and ballet history. These students also have the opportunity to be identified for talent-based ballet scholarships. If granted a Project En Pointe Scholarship to Norwalk Metropolitan Youth Ballet, it could change the course of their future and propel them into a career in the arts.

Project En Pointe scholarships will be applied to the cost of technique classes and costume fees at Norwalk Metropolitan Youth Ballet. En Pointe ballet scholars are students who show talent, drive, and often have a financial need. Project En Pointe Scholarships may be granted regardless of the student’s participation in a Project En Pointe ballet residency. Our goal is to identify students who will thrive in technique classes at NMYB, become mentors to the younger students, act as ambassadors of NMYB, perform a solo or ensemble piece at the culminating assembly of a Project En Pointe ballet residency, and are interested in pursuing a career in the arts.

A copy of the En Pointe Scholarship Application which students, parents, and/or guardians must complete in order to determine a student’s eligibility can be made available to you upon request.

We believe that the arts are a deep and unifying expression of our humanity. Therefore scholarships will be granted without limitations of race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, creed, gender, gender orientation, or any other factors which our society may otherwise view as divisive.

What Can Students Expect From An En Pointe Residency?

• Students will experience a creative dance residency lasting anywhere from 3 to 5 days in length for one period a day over the course of two to three weeks. The length of residency will be determined by each school’s principal.

• Students will be instructed in the 7 basic movements of classical dance (plier, etondre, relever, tourner, sauter, glisser, elancer).

• Students will build a movement vocabulary that is developmentally appropriate and constructed from pedestrian movements.

• Students will be lead through a series of exercises intended to warm-up the body, strengthen core muscles, and increase overall flexibility.

• Students will be engaged through both command and reciprocal teaching methodologies and will be lead through guided learning exercises.

• Students will be instructed on the fundamental concepts of choreography, stage direction, and stagecraft as well as theater etiquette.

• Students will create individual movement phrases.

• Students will explore themes developed specifically for their residency.

• Students will develop a higher sense of musicality and emotional expression through the use of their bodies.

• Students will be taught to respect their body in relation to space, objects, and people around them.

• Students will perform a culminating piece of choreography based on the residency theme.

• Students will participate in peer-to-peer assessment drawing upon learned vocabulary and principals.

• Students will be empowered to creatively and artistically express themselves in a judgment-free zone.

• Students will be encouraged to meet their personal best through one-on-one attention and praise.

• Students will leave with a sense of personal accomplishment and success.

How can you and your corporation participate in such a dynamic arts outreach opportunity? The simple answer is sponsorship. Click through our page to learn about the various ways you and your corporation can partner with Project En Pointe in order to sponsor young dancers on their artistic journey. We invite you to consider adopting a school or perhaps adopting a dancer.

We invite you to consider the various giving levels and benefits of sponsorship.

We hope that you will look favorably on Project En Pointe and become an annual sponsor. When a young dancer is sponsored for one year, they will be given such a wonderful gift, but that’s only the beginning of their journey. We are hoping to create a relationship with you and your corporation which will annually adopt a dancer at the same level. This kind of commitment has the potential to profoundly affect the course of a child’s life and potentially launch your En Pointe Scholar into a career in the arts. Without your contribution, none of this will be possible.

Please contact us today to set up a meeting with our Co-Founders to learn more about how you can partner with Project En Pointe and Norwalk Metropolitan Youth Ballet today.

Learn More: http://www.nmyb.org/en-pointe.html