Where students LEARN, CREATE, & DISCOVER through DANCE!
Photos by David Knox
About the Program
Class Act provides children in local communities with opportunities to dance, choreograph, and interact with Ballet Arizona’s own professional dancers. Presented in partnership with Ballet Under the Stars, Class Act is a 3 week dance program that is open to local elementary and middle school students. Our professional dancers travel to participating schools to teach classical ballet and choreography concepts, while preparing students to perform their new work at their neighborhood’s Ballet Under the Stars community performance. While we are not accepting new Class Act partners at this time, if you are interested in working with us, please let us know!
Why It's Important
The arts produce adaptable, creative, resilient, and determined individuals. Through the creative process, people are able to discover new ways of thinking about things, new ways to connect with others, and new ways to engage with the world. The arts teach people how to utilize existing processes and adapt them to serve unique purposes. They teach that discipline and perseverance is a requirement of success and that there are no substitutes for practice and patience. But most importantly, the arts teach people to keep their minds open to explore possibility wherever and whenever possible.
By exploring the elements of dance and choreography, students are encouraged to use their imagination to foster new ideas and creative solutions. During the process, they acquire sequential and spatial learning skills while learning to think critically and work as a team. Because the students are the ones creating, they experience a sense of accomplishment that boosts their self-confidence and self-esteem. They are able to see, firsthand, how possibility can become reality, a lesson which is important in cultivating dreamers, thinkers, and innovators.
If you’re interested in learning more about the benefits of dance study and how dance students can apply their skills and knowledge in the “real world”, please check out the links below!
Don’t Get it Twisted: Dance Is An Intellectual Pursuit
Top 10 Skills Children Learn From The Arts
Life Lessons From A Ballet Dancer
Where We Partner
We partner with schools in the cities where we present/have presented our Ballet Under the Stars free park performances!
- Phoenix
- Tempe
- Goodyear
- Fountain Hills
- Glendale
- Sun City West
Past partner schools include: Wilson Elementary School, Clarendon Elementary School, Scales Technology Academy, Estrella Mountain Elementary School, McDowell Mountain Elementary School, and Don Mensendick School.
Partner With Us
At this time, we are not accepting new Class Act partners. Please check back here to see if new opportunities become available!
Thank you!