REPERTORY BALLET ENSEMBLE PROPOSAL

Repertory Ballet Ensemble (RBE) is the student Ballet Company at Utah Valley
University. It is in its’ third year and has doubled in size and in talent in such a short
amount of time. RBE just concluded their Fall 2009 concert, which was sold out each
night and received a high amount of praise from others in the dance community, and the
community at large. We had many audience members who came more than once because
they were so impacted with the professionalism and technical artistry of the students we
are producing as a part of our program here at UVU.

The Ballet Program at UVU has received transfer students from the University of Utah
and Brigham Young University, and is filling a need in the community for professional
level performance opportunities in Ballet in an academic setting. UVU is the only school
in Utah that offers a performance based Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance with an emphasis
in Ballet. Because of this, our biggest problem are the growing pains that have
accompanied our quick rise

Most Universities offer a degree in dance in more of an academic environment. The

students learn in a classroom more than in the studio what ballet is, which only provides
them with a limited view, and therefore limits them as they head out into the ballet
community to get jobs. As part of the students education at UVU, our students study the
histories, theories and methodologies of every major ballet schooling in the world in an
academic setting. They also study anatomy, kinesiology, music, modern and jazz dance,
dance history, world dance forms, and ballet choreography, to name a few. But, because
we have a Bachlor of Fine Arts, our students also receive the practical training in
performance and artistry that is rare in the University setting. The function of RBE within
the structure of the BFA is to provide the professional opportunities that our students
need in order to graduate with performing experience, so they graduate with more than
just an academic understanding of ballet, but have had the opportunity to grow and
develop as artists themselves and then to go out into the community to raise the bar for
artistic integrity within the community.

with their degree, augmented with the benefits of this program, our students will be
prepared to perform and teach, which is an invaluable education—one that not many in
this field of study ever receive. We feel that this innovative pedagogical program is of
such value to our students, faculty and the community that we are initiating it as an
annual event to broaden the bases of lecturers and participants.

1. A NEED TO FILL
The Baccalaureate degree offered in the Ballet Program at UVU is a performance-based
degree. However, research has shown that a high percentage of professional dancers end
up teaching. At the beginning of this semester, we surveyed our incoming freshmen in
one of their core classes and found that 100% of them are either teaching now (53%), or
are interested in teaching at one point or another (47%). This implies that we will be
graduating many future teachers from our program. However, very few of them have
been taught how to teach.
but also any member of the community who would like to attend and benefit from this
information to ensure a higher standard of students entering UVSC.

3. COMMUNITIES OF ENGAGED LEARNERS

This program develops professionally competent teachers by the intensive study of
Ballet Pedagogy to increase scholarship and practical skills, while being mentored by
professionals. Our students will learn to be people of integrity by receiving real-life
experience in learning discipline, increased respect for self and others, communication
skills, integrity, responsibility and reliability, while mentoring their own students. In
addition, students will learn to be stewards of place by becoming involved in service
within the community, while building a network of professionals around them.

6. ANTICIPATED IMPACT
If we have only 10 teachers attend the program, and each teacher teaches 2 ballet classes
of 15 students each in the community, the program will affect the quality of training in
300 ballet students locally! If we even receive 5% of these students coming in to the
Ballet Program, we will have 15 more dancers who have the quality in their training they
need to successfully complete our baccalaureate program. As the skill level of our
dancers increase, the skill level of our teachers we send out into the community will
increase, and the cycle continues. The local impact of this program is undeniable, and
depending on how far our students travel to teach in the future, this program could
possibly extend to a national or global sphere of influence.