The BCS - no, no, it doesn’t have to do with college football. The BCS stands for the Butler Community School, which offers dance and fitness classes for all ages and skill levels right here in our downtown Butler Dance Education Center.
Recently, we’ve been honored to receive some great coverage on the BCS from news stations Fox 7 and KXAN. Austinites aren’t a shy bunch, and the students each station interviewed were quick to say how much they enjoy the drop-in classes at the BCS - probably part of the reason BCS enrollment has jumped 472% in the last three years!
I love to watch and listen to children. They remind me what’s important in life; how simple and easy it is to play. Kids find fun and laughter in just about anything they do. In fact, if you think about it, two things you don’t have to teach children from the time they are born, is how to play and how to dance. American poet William Stafford wrote, “Kids: they dance before they learn there is anything that isn’t music.”
Dance and play are two ways children move naturally. They hear the music, feel the rhythm, and before they know it, they’re dancing! Kids love to move!
The BCS Kid’s Zone at Ballet Austin is a place for kids between ages 8 and12 to dance and play. When I walk through the halls I hear fun music, see active feet and crazy fun games, and hear plenty of laughter. Activities that are more “fun” than “exercise” encourage children to get moving and keep moving. Exercise isn’t exercise! Dance encourages children to develop their imagination, social skills, self-expression and coordination.
Some children are here to take a drop-in ballet class around their summer schedule. Others take musical theatre, jazz or tap with Broadway veterans Danny and Rocker. Kids are getting groovy with some funky moves in hip hop, or exploring movement in a fun modern class.
Kids in Motion, which combines fitness fun and an interactive environment, is designed to help kids get their 60 minutes of cardio a day. With all the buzz about kids and fitness these days, and the evidence of how dance benefits growth and development, what better place to bring children to hang out this summer! Summer is all about kids. Kid’s are all about fun. The BCS Kid’s Zone is the place for kids stay active and have fun this summer!
No registration required. Start any time and come when you can.
Click here for Kid’s Zone class schedule. Click here for teen/adult dance and fitness class schedule.
We sat down with Marketing Director Lance Johnson to talk about the making of our 2010/11 Season brochure. Check out the video to learn about all that goes into the making of the piece and watch behind-the-scenes footage from the brochure photo shoot!
For the schedule and additional information on the 2010/11 Season, click here.
Somehow, I missed this cool little feature about The Long Center for the Performing Arts, our sparkling new venue for the last two seasons, that aired on CNN a few weeks ago. This Segment, from CNN’s ‘Building Up America,’ gives a two-minute history lesson on how the Palmer Auditorium was converted into a stunning new theatre for a fraction of what it would have cost to tear it down and start from scratch. As they say in the segment, it was Austin ingenuity at its best. Enjoy!
Sitting in a waiting room recently, flipping through a magazine, a quote caught my eye, “We turned exercise into a party!” That was all I needed to keep reading. I actually enjoy exercise, but I talk to people every day who would consider that comment to be an oxymoron. In fact, even people who do exercise regularly approach it with a less than positive attitude, sort of like Garfield the Cat who said, “I might as well exercise, I’m in a bad mood anyway.”
So I kept reading to discover that there is a dance fitness craze sweeping the country. Now I am even more intrigued! Dance and fitness are what the BCS is all about! “Zumba®,” the article said, “has become nothing short of a revolution, spreading like wildfire, and positioning itself as the single most influential movement in the industry of fitness.” Those are some powerful words! What is this Zumba®? Soon you will be able to discover for yourself because Zumba® is coming to the BCS this summer! It is playful and energetic, and combines high energy and motivating music. It’s a workout that keeps everyone motivated by creating a party-like atmosphere.
The new summer schedule of dance and fitness classes begins June 2. Zumba® will be the featured BCS Class of the Month in June. Come give it a try for FREE! Zumba® just might be the best party in town!
To kick off all summer dance and fitness classes at the BCS we will be holding a 15% off sale on summer Class-Cards May 24 through May 29. Get a deal and then get fit and have fun at the BCS this summer!
Click here for more information on Zumba® and the BCS summer class card sale!
We sat down with Company dancer Jaime Lynn Witts to talk about her upcoming lead role (her first here at Ballet Austin!) as Swanhilda in our Mother’s Day Weekend production of Coppélia. Check out the video!
For more information about Ballet Austin’s production of Coppélia, click here.
Sneak a peek at the company dancers rehearsing in the studio before Coppélia opens! This is an excerpt from one of the high-energy character dances, called the Czardas.
For more information about Ballet Austin’s production of Coppélia, click here.
Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve dreamed of being a ballet dancer. In 2001, I came to Ballet Austin as a trainee and then moved up to the second company as an apprentice. In 2004, I joined Ballet Austin and, amazingly, achieved that dream. Since then, I’ve had many wonderful opportunities on stage. This next performance, however, will be something new and extremely exciting. I’ve been cast as Swanhilda in Coppélia, my first leading role. I am so excited, and nervous, and a little bit stressed, but mostly amazed. As a little girl this is the type of role you dream about as you twirl around your room practicing that final bow. And now it’s real.
Swanhilda is a girl at the center of a series of comedic misunderstandings. She is a young girl in love, but a bit of a brat too. She and her boyfriend Franz are set to be engaged until Swanhilda catches him blowing kisses to the girl in the window of Dr. Coppelius’ house. Wanting to figure out who this girl is, Swanhilda and her friends sneak into Dr. Coppelius house. In the house they find many mechanical dolls, making their way Coppélia, who turns out to be a doll as well. Swanhilda realizes she’s been jealous of a doll, just as Dr. Coppelius returns. But that is just the beginning of this entertaining tale. I don’t want to spoil it all, but she does grow up in the end.
The rehearsal process for Coppélia is different than what we’ve just been doing with New American Talent/Dance and The Bach Project, since it is a restaging of a classic, not the creation of a new work. Mr. Mills has been working with us, teaching the choreography as closely to the original as possible, with some slight changes here and there where he sees fit. The coming rehearsals will not only be spent working on the execution of the steps, but also the stylized shapes specific to this time period of ballet. I think Swanhilda will be a really fun character to portray, but it is also going to be challenging to make sure that the dancing, mime, and acting all accurately portray her and tell the story. It’s going to be an intense few weeks, but I am so excited to have been given this amazing opportunity.
For more information about Ballet Austin’s production of Coppélia, click here.
Bob Fosse, Jerome Robbins, Michael Bennett, even Michael Jackson, have come alive here at the Butler Dance Education Center. You can hear them when you walk through the halls. They live on through the lives of Danny Herman and Rocker Verastique. These two guys are the real deal. Straight from Broadway, having starred in such recognized productions as A Chorus Line, Chicago, and Contact, Danny and Rocker light up the lives of BCS students from age 8 to 58. Sometimes I have to marvel at the stories they tell…hanging out on stage with Michael Bennett, riding in Bob Fosse’s limo…
And then I have to marvel even more when I realize that they teach here…HERE! When it comes to Broadway and Theatre Dance classes, we have the best! And that’s probably an understatement. As I said, they are the real deal! Seriously…if you don’t believe me, come down and try a class in April. Broadway Jazz and Theatre Dance are featured as the BCS Classes of the Month. If you’ve never been, try your first class FREE, and rub shoulders with a couple of veterans.
Not only do Danny and Rocker teach classes here at the BCS, they are creators and directors of the upcoming Musical Theatre Workshop performance Broadway in May//100 Years of Broadway, to be performed on stage at the AustinVentures StudioTheater May 1 and 2.“They say the neon lights are bright on broadway. They say there’s always magic in the air.” I say the neon lights are bright on the corner of 3rd and San Antonio, and I know there’s always magic in the air.
For more information about the BCS Class of the Month for April, Broadway Jazz & Theatre Dance, click here.
For more information about Broadway in May, or to purchase tickets, click here.
Nelly van Bommel’s Fanfarnèta. Photo by Tony Spielberg.
Thanks to everyone who joined us for New American Talent/Dance, our biennial choreographic competition, over its two week run. It was an incredible experience showing three world premiere works from three immensely talented choreographers (KT Nelson, Nelly van Bommel, and Dominic Walsh). I was behind the scenes counting the audience votes and it was riveting every time—hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! And if you weren’t able to join us, check out more pictures below.
This year’s judges (Alicia Adams—Vice President of International Touring, Kennedy Center, Julie Nakagawa—Artistic Director/Co-founder, DanceWorks Chicago, and Paul Vasterling—Artistic Director, Nashville Ballet) joined us Saturday, March 27 to cast their votes, divvying up the $15,000 purse with equal $6,000 prizes going to Nelly van Bommel for her piece Fanfarnèta and to Dominic Walsh for his The Whistling. KT Nelson rounded out the winnings, receiving $3,000 for her work When Love is Hard.
But the audience had the final say each night, texting votes to decide the winner of a nightly $500 audience prize. For the first time in New American Talent/Dance history, all three choreographers won at least once. Here are the winners of the audience vote from each night:
Thursday, March 25, 7pm
Dominic Walsh
Friday, March 26, 8pm
Dominic Walsh
Saturday, March 27, 8pm
Nelly van Bommel
Sunday, March 28, 3pm
Dominic Walsh
Thursday, April 1, 7pm
KT Nelson
Friday, April 2, 8pm
Dominic Walsh
Saturday, April 3, 3pm
Dominic Walsh
Saturday, April 3, 8pm
Dominic Walsh
Sunday, April 4, 3pm
Nelly van Bommel
KT Nelson’s When Love is Hard. Photo by Tony Spielberg.
Dominic Walsh’s The Whistling. Photo by Tony Spielberg.
Dominic Walsh’s The Whistling. Photo by Tony Spielberg.
Nelly van Bommel’s Fanfarnèta. Photo by Tony Spielberg.
