Maria Youskevitch News

In its on-going effort to share the joy of dance with a wider audience, the 2015 Summer Intensive Program at American Repertory Ballet's Princeton Ballet School is pleased to announce that its Master Classes will be open to observers. Leading Master Classes will be Broadway dancer Michael Mindlin, New York City Ballet dancer Unity Phelan, and Sarah Hay, a soloist with Semperoper Dresden Ballet. All three received their early training at Princeton Ballet School.

On Monday, June 29, ballet students from around the world started their first day of training at Princeton Ballet School, the official school of NJ's premiere professional ballet company American Repertory Ballet, at the school's studios in the Princeton Shopping Center. This is Princeton Ballet School's 33rd year of offering their Summer Intensive course, making it one of the oldest programs in the United States.

This September, American Repertory Ballet and Princeton Ballet School will be participating in community events throughout central Jersey: Cranbury Day in Cranbury, Septemberfest in Hamilton, and the Hub City Sounds Festival in New Brunswick.

This September, American Repertory Ballet and Princeton Ballet School will be participating in community events throughout central Jersey: Cranbury Day in Cranbury, Septemberfest in Hamilton, and the Hub City Sounds Festival in New Brunswick.

On Friday, July 25, 2014, students from Princeton Ballet School's Summer Intensive will be dancing in the program's culminating performance. The show, entitled An Evening of Dance, will take place at the Berlind Theatre in the McCarter Theatre Center at 6:30pm.

On Monday, June 23, ballet students from around the world started their first day of training at Princeton Ballet School's studios in the Princeton Shopping Center. This is Princeton Ballet School's 32nd year of offering their Summer Intensive course, making it one of the oldest programs in the United States.

On Saturday, May 18, 2014, 350 Princeton Ballet School students performed in the school's annual spring production 2014,The Sleeping Beauty, at Patriots Theater at the War Memorial in Trenton. The production featured dancers ranging in age from 5 years to adult, with the lead roles performed by members of American Repertory Ballet Workshop (ARBW), the pre-professional performance wing of Princeton Ballet School.

Today, May 17, 2014, Princeton Ballet School will present its 2014 annual spring production, The Sleeping Beauty, at the Patriots Theater at the War Memorial in Trenton at 2:00pm and 7:00pm. Over 300 students will dance in this production.

On May 17, 2014, Princeton Ballet School will present its 2014 annual spring production, The Sleeping Beauty, at the Patriots Theater at the War Memorial in Trenton at 2:00pm and 7:00pm. Over 300 students will dance in this production.

Every year, Princeton Ballet School hosts international talent at its studios in Princeton through its summer intensive program. Scroll down for photos from the program's culminating performance, An Evening of Dance, at the Berlind Theatre. Plus, see photos of the students in the studio and on Princeton University's campus, where they stayed in the dorms for the 5-week program.

Jacob's Pillow. Everyone in the professional dance world knows its name, and every professional company wants to perform there. The history of Jacob's Pillow is a reflection of the development of dance in America. It presents the highest quality of dance currently being performed around the world.

Every year at Princeton Ballet School's Summer Intensive, the five-week program culminates with a performance. One of the pieces performed is always a section from a full-length Classical ballet set by renowned teacher and former Maria Youskevitch. For the past two summers, Ms. Youskevitch has set sections from Act Two of Swan Lake on the Intensive students, and I have had the privilege of assisting her as she sets the choreography and rehearses the dancers. I am surprised and disappointed however, to say that over these two summers, there have been more students who are disappointed to find themselves in the corps of Swan Lake, than those who are excited. The general feeling is that you don't get to dance when you're in the corps de ballet, and that you just stand there and blend in, so it's boring and tedious. I'm not saying that it isn't tedious, but the skills a dancer learns by experiencing corps de ballet work are vital to their future as an aspiring professional ballet dancer.

For the past 32 years, Princeton Ballet School, the official school of American Repertory Ballet, has welcomed ballet students from across the United States and around the world to its Summer Intensive program. Princeton Ballet School's Summer Intensive is one of the oldest and most selective in the country. The 95 dancers, who auditioned this past winter, come from across the United States and from Canada, China, Italy, Japan, Norway, Spain, and South Africa. The students live in dorms on Princeton University's campus and train daily at the Princeton Ballet School's location in the Princeton Shopping Center.

On Saturday, May 18, 2013, over 400 Princeton Ballet School students performed in the school's Annual Spring Production 2013: Swan Lake at Patriots Theater at the War Memorial in Trenton. Before the performance, scholarship recipients for the 2013-2014 academic year were announced, and graduating seniors were honored.

Princeton Ballet School, the official school of American Repertory Ballet, will present the full-length classical ballet Swan Lake on May 18, 2013 at the Patriots Theater at the War Memorial in Trenton, NJ. Performances will be at 2:00pm and 7:00pm.

Maria Youskevitch, longtime faculty member at Princeton Ballet School, is one of this year's American Repertory Ballet Gala Honorees, and is the recipient of this year's Audree Estey Award for Excellence in Dance Education. Daughter of one of the leading dancers of the 20th century, Igor Youskevitch, Ms. Youskevitch brings a strong background in and deep knowledge of ballet to her students. She teaches for a variety of levels and, every year, re-stages a full-length classical ballet on Princeton Ballet School students for the School's Spring Production. She has also served as Rehearsal Director for American Repertory Ballet, the professional company associated with Princeton Ballet School, on several occasions.

Maria Youskevitch, longtime faculty member at Princeton Ballet School, is one of this year's American Repertory Ballet Gala Honorees, and is the recipient of this year's Audree Estey Award for Excellence in Dance Education. Daughter of one of the leading dancers of the 20th century, Igor Youskevitch, Ms. Youskevitch brings a strong background in and deep knowledge of ballet to her students. She teaches for a variety of levels and, every year, re-stages a full-length classical ballet on Princeton Ballet School students for the School's Spring Production. She has also served as Rehearsal Director for American Repertory Ballet, the professional company associated with Princeton Ballet School, on several occasions.

American Repertory Ballet has announced upcoming events throughout New Jersey this Spring 2013. Based in Princeton, ARB has been consistently designated a "Major Arts Institution" by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts for the past two decades, and, in 2008 and 2011, was voted Jersey Arts' People's Choice for Favorite Dance Company. Presenting innovative choreography to music by such greats as Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Vivaldi, ARB's upcoming performance season promises to be inspiring.

At BEHIND THE CURTAIN: INSIDE SWAN LAKE, an On Pointe Enrichment Series event, American Repertory Ballet Artistic Director Douglas Martin, Princeton Ballet School Director Mary Pat Robertson, and the advanced students of Princeton Ballet School will present an intimate sneak peek at the preparations for this year's Annual Spring Production today, November 9, 2012 at 5:15pm at Princeton Ballet School.