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Jacobs Community Engagement Initiative Indiana University

Bloomington Ballet Ensemble Wraps a 4-Week Virtual Session Working with Washington County Family YMCA

Posted on by jsomcre

Sarah Wroth leads students at the Brown County YMCA in as part of the Ballet Project in February 2020.

The Bloomington Ballet Ensemble has completed a 4 week virtual instruction program with the Washington County YMCA!

In 2020, the Jacobs Ballet Program engaged in their first collaboration with the Jacobs Community Engagement Initiative. These activities included two separate three-week sessions teaching introduction to ballet, creative movement, and chair movement at the Washington County and Brown County YMCAs. The three week intensives both culminated with public performances that featured IU Ballet dancers alongside rural ballet students.

The outcomes from these first in-person sessions, led by IU Ballet Department Chair Sarah Worth and professor Carla Korbes, were extremely positive. Over 80 community members and 15 Jacobs students were involved in the classes throughout these two communities. As the project wrapped, both the YMCAs and Jacobs instructors were eager to continue expanding the project in the future.

A rural ballet student in Brown County celebrates after the final performance of the Ballet Project in February 2020.

“Working with IU has been a great pleasure for our community. Through this partnership, we have been able to provide a service that was welcomed with open arms into our community. We have heard nothing but good things, and the want to bring this ballet workshop back to Washington County. The communication, marketing and entire process was easy and well planned. Thank you for working with us and helping us to better Washington County.”

– Chelsey Miller, Youth First Director (Washington County Family YMCA)

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The 2021 season posed a more challenging design: how to launch an impactful ballet program in the midst of the pandemic? IU Ballet Professor Robin Allen stepped in to lead the way forward and mount a virtual series of courses. She led performers in the Bloomington Ballet Ensemble, a student organization comprised of talented IU Ballet dancers, as they crafted curriculum and built a reliable technological setup, all while adhering to strict COVID-19 protective policies.
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The result was a sweet dance reunion between the IU dancers and the Washington County Family YMCA. The IU dancers conducted 4 weeks of instructional ballet courses via zoom to studios filled with Salem participants at the YMCA. Even with screens and zoom spreads as their only means of connection, the joy of movement was palpable.
Bloomington Ballet Ensemble Dancers connecting with students at the Washington County Family YMCA in Salem via zoom.
The Bloomington Ballet Ensemble is currently recording instructional dance videos that CRE partners like the Washington County YMCA can access freely. This will help rural students interested in ballet continue their connection to the craft, even when live courses aren’t being offered. Robin Allen is leading efforts to collaborate with additional partners in Nashville, Salem, and Paoli as they continue to offer virtual courses throughout the summer and fall of 2021, with hopes to eventually include in-person activity as well.

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