Princeton Ballet School opens a New Studio in the Princeton Shopping Center and offers new programs for career track students

Princeton Ballet School, the official school of the American Repertory Ballet, will open a new studio space in the Princeton Shopping Center this fall. The 3000 square foot “pop-up” studio, located on the east side of the shopping center between Camillo’s Café and Ace Hardware, will allow the School to offer more classes and special programs at its popular Princeton location. The studio is already being used as a rehearsal space for the school’s pre-professional company, which is preparing for performances at “Cranbury Day” and Hamilton’s “Septemberfest”. The new studio will officially open, along with Princeton Ballet School’s other studios in the shopping center, Cranbury and New Brunswick, when the semester begins on September 10th.

The space allows the school to expand its offerings this year. New this fall is a Junior Division to the pre-professional company for students age 12-14, and a post-high school Company Trainee Program. Both programs offer increased training and performance opportunities for the students involved. “The Company Trainee program is designed as a transitional program for young dancers seeking to move into professional work in the ballet world. Some are taking the program as a ‘gap year’ before college, others are taking a leave of absence from college to pursue their dance dreams, and some are post-college or home school students with very advanced skills,” says School Director, Mary Pat Robertson. The schedule is rigorous, with six hours of training plus rehearsals six days a week, often alongside the professional dancers of American Repertory Ballet.

Among the new students in the Trainee program is Mathilde Labrusse, a native of Paris, France -- also the School’s first student here in the US on an F1 visa. Other trainees include Tori Kennell, a graduate of Orlando Ballet School; Kelsey McFalls, who is taking a leave of absence from NYU to pursue dance as a career; Shaye Firer from Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Kara Harvey, who recently graduated from Oklahoma University with a B.F. A. in dance. Bryana Jones (Piscataway), Erin Keegan (Mercerville), Evan Law (Somerset), and Karen Leslie Moscato (Pennington), all Princeton Ballet School standouts, were also admitted to the prestigious program.

Students from the School will perform at:
Cranbury Day, Cranbury, NJ on September 11, 2010
Septemberfest, Hamilton, NJ September 12, 2010