Crooked Tree Arts Center

Petoskey, MI 49770

www.crookedtree.org

231-347-4337

CTAC School of Ballet’s Spring Season

The month of March marks two anniversaries for the Crooked Tree Arts Center School of Ballet, as well as the opening of its Spring Session of inaugural hybrid programming.

The CTAC School of Ballet celebrates its 18th anniversary this month. Back in March of 2003, Artistic Director Heather Raue founded the School of Ballet, starting with just a handful of students. In its nearly two-decade existence, thousands of students have studied with the School of Ballet and gone on to become professional dancers, choreographers, educators, light designers, production managers, and more, working across the country and around the world. “We have nurtured our beloved program to adulthood,” said Raue, “with several of our alum on our year-round teaching team.”

“March 24, 2021, marks our one-year Zoomaversary of our virtual programming,” added Raue, “which we will be celebrating with a live-stream event on Friday, March 26 at 7 p.m.” Since January, the School of Ballet’s upper-level dancers have been working on creating their own screendances with the guidance of Raue and instructor and alumnae Haley Van Patten. The culmination of this work will be shown during the celebration on the Crooked Tree Arts Center School of Ballet Facebook page.

The Spring Session of hybrid programming will take place from April 6 - June 19, both in-person and virtually through Zoom. A detailed endeavor and requiring a multifaceted scheduling process, the School of Ballet’s hybridized spring session will be a first.

“We are excited to be offering a hybrid School of Ballet Spring Session,” said Raue. “This means that our students will have the option of returning to in-person instruction on a part-time basis, while students who wish to continue Zoom instruction will be allowed to do so. Students who wish to participate in our reduced-size in-person classes will be scheduled for both part-time in-person and part-time Zoom instruction to give as many dancers as possible the opportunity to have the in-studio experience.” 

Also, this session, CTAC is excited to welcome back its youngest dancers. By offering in-person Dance Fusion I and Beginning Ballet classes, dancers, ages 4 - 6, can once again participate in the dance program under the direction of instructor Karrie Benedict.

Registration for the CTAC School of Ballet’s Spring Session is now open. Please visit crookedtree.org or call the front desk at (231) 347-4337 to enroll.

For more information about the School of Ballet, contact the Crooked Tree Arts Center at 231-347-4337 or visit crookedtree.org. Crooked Tree Arts Center is located at 461 E. Mitchell Street, downtown Petoskey.

Photos:

1) Pre-Professional dancers Nancy Hohlbein and Louis Millard rehearse for a screendance as part of the Zoomaversary Live-stream event on March 24. Photo credit: Charlie Millard

2) Pre-Professional dancer Payton Beckering. Photo credit: Dave Harrell

3) Pre-Professional dancer Louis Millard. Photo credit: Dave Harrell

4) Pre-Professional dancer Nancy Hohlbein. Photo credit: Dave Harrell

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