Class Curriculum

The School of Greensboro Ballet is dedicated to teaching all of its dance classes emphasizing a strong technical foundation. Whether a dance student is enrolled in the children’s dance program, the classical ballet program, the adult dance program or the jazz dance program, the students learn proper dance technique which allows them to become stronger and more versatile dancers. The faculty members are all highly experienced teachers. Some have degrees in dance, dance education or professional performing experience with professional ballet companies. Our students are readily able to enter into a class anywhere in the world and function well because of their strong technical training.

Our Children’s Dance Program has a well researched curriculum called “Leap ’N Learn”. This program is sensitive to children’s physical, emotional, and cognitive development. Leap ’N Learn was originally developed to help young dancers prepare for formal ballet classes. Since then, it has grown into a program that encourages creativity, self-expression, and fundamental movement skills.

The Ballet program is based on the teachings of Olga Preobajenska, who was prima ballerina of the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet for twenty-five years. She then became a preeminent teacher of State School of Ballet, Petrograd. She resigned her post there and settled in Paris where she taught many esteemed ballet dancers of the day, including George Skibine, Irina Baronova, Tamara Toumanova and Igor Youskevitch. Her teaching methods were adopted by Agrippina Vaganova who continued developing the ballet technique for which the Russians have become so renowned. Many dancers of the Ballet Russe brought Preobajenska’s teachings to America where they have been passed down to generations of American dancers. The technique’s main goal is to bring the body into total harmony and stability with a strong core and a strong sense of style and musicality. Dancers trained in this method are strong, artistic and have a high level of what appears to be effortless bravura technique.

Our students enter the ballet program at age 7 and pass through 9 levels of training by the time they are in high school. Our top level students enjoy the opportunity to appear with our professional dancers in several performances each year, adding performing arts experience to their training opportunity.

Our ballet students have been accepted to university and college ballet programs including:

• University of North Carolina School of the Arts
• Butler University
• Texas Christian University
• University of Utah
• University of South Carolina
• Goucher College

Several have also been accepted at prestigious professional ballet schools such as:

• The Joffrey Ballet School
• The School of American Ballet
• American Ballet Theatre
• Houston Ballet

Some students have enjoyed professional dance careers on Broadway as well as with ballet companies such as:

• Ballet Oklahoma
• New York City Ballet
• Columbia Classical Ballet
• Cincinnati Ballet
• North Carolina Dance Theatre II
• Ballet Theatre of Maryland
• Louisville Ballet