With the conclusion of our Nutcracker Mini Sessions this month, Ballet Aligned has a lot to celebrate!! In the last year, we’ve found Allegro Dance Studio, which has enabled us to offer more classes. We are currently serving dancers from ages 2-52!
None of that would be possible without our wonderful teachers! This year alone, we’ve added FOUR! Debi King, with over 30 years of teaching experience, is back in our valley and our Basics class is delighted to have her! Katie Hall is teaching our Mommy and Me Movement and Story Times, as well as our ballet-based Mini Sessions. Nicole Kallsen, recently out of the ballet program at the University of Utah, is helping the Foundations classes master the fundamental concepts to ballet technique. And Alicia Potter, who danced professionally and has taught various levels of dance for five years, is currently heading our teen adult classes. (Read more about all our wonderful teachers here.)
We have also been working to make better ballet more accessible to the community at large. Ballet Aligned has hosted three story times that were attended by over 40 households. Attendees met dancers who are making great things happen in their own pursuit of better ballet, and learned more about some of the classical ballets, auditioning for rolls, and the life of a dancer. Foundations Class students were invited to a special preview performance of Ballet West’s Little Mermaid, and Ballet Basics students were invited to come see stars of the local Nutcracker work on their craft in class. All of these were provided free of charge to help inspire dancers in our community to reach for the stars when pursuing their dance goals!
Boys class with Story Time guest, Kai Casperson 
Story Time guest, Hannah Anderson
With over 50 enrolled students, we could sit back and just relax for a moment. But the first lesson of ballet is that there is always some important thing to improve upon, and we are SO EXCITED for the growth next year will bring!
We are currently engaged in locking down our OWN location! The hunt has definitely been an adventure, and we will be in touch as things come together. A new location will facilitate a few EXCITING CHANGES which we hope will make our offerings even more beneficial to the dancers (not to mention parking and bathrooms!), such as:
- Ballet Stories Class – This spring semester it will include the classical ballets, Swan Lake, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty! This is for the 3-6 year old dancer and functions like our current Mini Sessions, but will run for the duration of the semester classes. Parents will still be able to opt in and out of specific sessions – 4 weeks/session instead of 3 – but there will ALSO be an option to participate for the entire semester for significant savings!
- Ballet Basics II – This is a beginning ballet class for dancers ages 8+. Content will be similar to our current Basics class (becoming Basics I), but dancers will progress to the barre and move more quickly through the syllabus. And this class can be taken once or twice a week for accelerated progression!
- Ballet Foundations, for ages 10+, will continue twice a week, but a new location and larger space will allow us to move this class to after-school hours so more dancers will be able to participate.
- Pointe – Intermediate and Advanced dancers ages 11+ will be able to focus on developing their technique in pointe shoes!
- Boys Class – While there is a lot of overlap in training, there is certainly much that is unique to ballet training for men. And our community needs BETTER BOY DANCERS! This class will be for boys ages 7-12 and the level will be determined by the needs of the participants.
- Teen/Adult Classes – Whether it’s an option for exercise or a way to supplement other ballet classes, we hope to offer more teen/adult classes that are fun AND improve your dancing!
As we expand the programming, we are also looking to create performance opportunities. As we do, parent watch will remain an important part of Ballet Aligned, but we would love to help our dancers share their skill and passion with the community at large!
If YOU are looking for a great way to share Ballet Aligned with your neighbors, family, and friends, part of our expansion will be the offering of a series of free classes so dancers can see our new studios and work with the best teachers in the valley. If you are currently enrolled, watch for texts with more details about these free classes and Spring Semester offerings. If you have yet to enjoy dance classes with Ballet Aligned, be sure to follow us on Facebook AND leave your email at BalletAligned.com’s home page.