Metropolitan’s Boys’ Scholarship Program celebrates 20th year!
June 30, 2019 | Posted in Ballet, Boys' Scholarship Program
Metropolitan Ballet Company Announces Audition for
Free Boys’ Scholarship Dance Classes: June 8, 2019 at 9:00 am
Jenkintown, PA— Metropolitan Ballet Company is holding auditions for its renowned Boys’ Scholarship Dance Program on Saturday, June 8, 2019 at 9:00 AM, at the Metropolitan Ballet Academy, 700 Cedar Road, Jenkintown, PA 19046. Boys, ages 7-11 and 12-18 are eligible to receive free, weekly dance classes plus performance opportunities from September 2019 through June 2020. Classes are taught by Metropolitan faculty Daniel Mayo (formerly BalletX) and Etienne Diaz (Pennsylvania Ballet). No prior dance experience or pre-registration is required; boys should arrive ready to participate in a beginner class at 9:00 am in gym clothes or dance attire.
The Boys’ Scholarship Program provides tuition-free training in all-male classes designed to enhance athletic skills, motor intelligence, balance, flexibility and strength. Approximately 50 boys enroll each year for beginning ,intermediate and advanced classical training, along with classes in partnering and contemporary dance. Metropolitan was named by POINTE magazine as one of America’s top seven ballet studios “cultivating top talent” and has been recognized with the Youth America Grand Prix’s Outstanding School Award (2018, 2017, 2015, and 2012).
The Boys’ Scholarship Program has provided over $1,300,000 in scholarship awards to over 300 boys since its founding 20 years ago. “Met Men” regularly earn scholarships to prestigious summer and year-round dance programs in America and abroad, and many of our alumni are performing professionally, including at Pennsylvania Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Washington Ballet, State Street Ballet, Charlotte Ballet, on Broadway, and more. The rigorous classical training and exhilarating performance opportunities provide a framework for success for young men, whether pursuing a career in the performing arts, college or other careers.
Lisa Collins Vidnovic created Metropolitan Ballet’s Boys’ Scholarship Programin 1999 as a way to make classical dance training accessible to boys in the greater Philadelphia region. Vidnovic, a former Pennsylvania Ballet dancer and Ballet Mistress, founded Metropolitan Ballet Academy in 1996 and Metropolitan Ballet Company, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit, pre-professional performing company, in 2001.
The Boys’ Scholarship Program is a community outreach initiative of Metropolitan Ballet Company, and proudly supported by grants from the Loeb Performing Arts Fund of The Philadelphia Foundation and by many generous individual gifts. For more information, call 215-663-1665, email collinsvidnovic@verizon.net or visit http://www.metropolitanballetcompany.org