DanceChance in 2024 – By the Numbers!
By Naomi Glass, Director of Access Programs and PNB School Faculty
Today on the PNB Blog, we’re sharing about the DanceChance program – join us as we tally some numbers worth dancing about!
Partnering with 18 Seattle Public Schools, PNB School’s DanceChance program provides access to and improves equity within classical ballet training. DanceChance students receive full-scholarship ballet training, transportation, attire/shoes, and complimentary tickets to every PNB repertoire. Supported by generous corporate, foundational, and individual sponsorship, 1,800 3rd and 4th graders have experienced the world of ballet through the DanceChance program.
DanceChance students performing in PNB School Performance on McCaw Hall stage, photo © Lindsay Thomas.
2024 marks 30 years of DanceChance. The 30th Annual Celebration Day was attended by special guest Founding PNB Artistic Director Francia Russell, whose vision and determination brought DanceChance to fruition in 1994. 84 DanceChance students showcased their learning in barre and centre work, and 2 DanceChance alumni in PNB School’s Professional Division performed excerpts from George Balanchine’s Square Dance and Kent Stowell’s Swan Lake. The students were cheered on by an audience of 200 including DanceChance alumni who spanned 3 decades of the program.
PNB School students bow at DanceChance’s 30th Annual Celebration Day, photo © Lindsay Thomas.
Over 4 busy weeks this fall, the DanceChance team of 14 PNB School faculty members taught 64 movement classes to over 1,300 3rd graders – that means countless plies, releves, skips, chasses, and smiles in partner school gyms and cafeterias all over Seattle. PNB School faculty member Eric Hipolito returned to teach at his alma mater, Maple Elementary, where, in 1998, he first entered the DanceChance program at the age of 8.
Eric Hipolito leading a DanceChance visitation at his alma mater, Maple Elementary School.
For the 24-25 school year, DanceChance provides 8 ballet classes weekly, attended by 62 3rd graders and 20 4th graders – this equates to 2 staff members, 5 instructors, 6 musicians, 7 volunteers, 124 pairs of ballet shoes, 140 loads of leotards and tights, 420 DanceChance bus rides, and 1,312 tickets to PNB repertoires!
Kiyon Ross, PNB’s Associate Artistic Director, guest teaching for DanceChance.
This year, 24 alumni in the PNB School are participating in the DanceChance Mentorship Program. For the 11 DanceChance alumni who recently joined PNB School, it’s about looking up to role models who got their start in the same program, learning lessons, and being supported by older students who know how it feels to dance in their shoes.
DanceChance alumni families enjoying a pizza party- many thanks, Pagliacci Pizza!
Bravo to DanceChance alumni Lucas Galvan, who after 11 years in the PNB School, embarks this month on his professional career with PNB! Lucas is the 5th DanceChance alumni to join the PNB Company and we are thrilled to see him shine onstage alongside fellow DanceChance graduates, corps de ballet member Joh Morrill and Soloist Kuu Sakuragi.
