Organization

Governing Boards
Development Team
Administration
Artistic Advisory Group
Faculty
Review Committee
Parent Organization
Sponsored Programs
Future Programs
American National Ballet Company
Whistle Stop Tours
Village Square
Open Stage
Traveling Theater
Dance Film Series
Dance Classics Library Productions
Accounting

When the American National Ballet pulls in to your town on a Whistle Stop Tour schedule, the schools in the area are all notified well in advance. Teachers can request and schedule field trips to the local rail station so that their classes can attend daytime lecture demonstration programs, and master classes.

At every stop on a tour it is necessary for the stage to be set up first, so Open Stage programs are often in the afternoon, just after lunch. By coordinating these Open Stage offerings with the local railway station’s engineer, classes can make a day of it by having a special tour of the train yards where available.

Open Stage blends educational opportunities into every day activities of running and maintaining a touring, performing company. Nearly all aspects of company preparation and stage craft are performed each day as part of the ongoing operation of the company schedule. Open Stage makes educational programs coincide with the normal flow of company operations so that there is no need to interrupt the normal flow of activity to accommodate an educational program. Open Stage offers a look at the technical foundation of carpentry, lighting, props, costumes and sound, not just training and performance.

In an Open Stage performance, students first watch an innovative performance. This might include an onstage class with explanation of the different exercises used to prepare the dancer’s body for their work, viewing a choreography session, seeing a ballet be rehearsed, having a special childrens theater narrated production or simply watching a short performance of some of the dances included in repertoire on that tour. After the performance is a Q&A session so the students can ask about any aspect of the performance in which they are interested. There are some programs that include a master class, or introduction to movement seminar where the students get to come onto the stage and actually learn some dance movements themselves. Local ballet schools may want to schedule a special class for their students as well. In such a case, the level of the dancers is established, and the appropriate class is given by one of the artistic staff of American National Ballet. There are also lecture/demonstrations for adults as well, separate from the Village Square and Open Stage offerings.