Advancing Dance

Dickinson, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet Offer New Certificate Program, Courses

by Bill Sulon

Dickinson College and the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (CPYB) have taken their strong relationship to the next level by offering a new certificate program and new specialized courses in ballet and dance.

For 30 years, CPYB—a nationally and internationally recognized school of classical ballet—has held its summer session at Dickinson. Now the partnership will include the certificate program, designed to meet the needs of a pre-professional dance student. A certificate will be granted upon completion of two years of advanced ballet study at the Carlisle-based CPYB and four academic classes at Dickinson.

“The Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and Dickinson certificate program not only enhances our program but provides a new platform for students to combine academic study with practice in a more integrated manner,” said President William G. Durden ’71. “By offering this unique opportunity of a certificate, we can attract highly qualified dance students who will be able to compete for more opportunities in elite professional dance companies as well as become more qualified for top graduate-school programs.”

Alan Hineline, CEO of CPYB, said his organization “greatly values its long-standing relationship with Dickinson College” and looks forward to strengthening that bond.

“The new Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet/Dickinson College certificate program is an innovative initiative that creates an organic “pas de deux” between a liberal-arts education and the performing arts,” Hineline said. “With this program, the two highly regarded institutions set the pace for a comprehensive education that is a win for all involved.”

The program will feature high-level courses in Techniques of Classical Ballet, which will be taught by CPYB faculty under the direction of Marcia Dale Weary, founder and artistic director of the 55-year-old school. Instruction will utilize the methods of ballet training developed by Weary, whose students are some of the most refined, precise and articulate dancers nationally and abroad.

Weary, who was awarded an honorary doctorate in performing arts from Dickinson last May, continues to produce dancers for the world's top companies, including New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet and the Germany-based Hamburg Ballet, among others. There are 65 graduates of CPYB dancing professionally, including Ethan Stiefel, Vanessa Zahorian, Kristin Long, Ashley Bouder, Adam Hendrickson, Zachary Hench, and Abi and Jonathan Stafford.

The changes to the dance curriculum reflect current scholarship in globalism and cultural interchange. Students will be able to begin taking the new courses in fall, 2011.

Sarah Skaggs, director of the dance program at Dickinson, was instrumental in organizing the new curriculum.

“I am thrilled that we will be able to capitalize on our unique opportunity with CPYB,” Skaggs said. “The certificate program will make possible what used to seem impossible: the combination of a liberal-arts education combined with the daily study of ballet at an elite level.”

 

Published December 7, 2010