Free Summer Ballet Immersion Week

Open to Dancers Ages 11 to Adult

by Lynn Castle

After a two-year COVID hiatus, Tacoma City Ballet School will once again offer its Annual Free Summer Ballet Immersion Week. Students 11 years of age and up are invited to attend the weeklong program August 15-19. Admission is free and open to all dancers in the region.

According to Miss Erin Ceragioli, Director of the Tacoma City Ballet School, “Free Immersion Week was started to make the study of classical ballet accessible to dancers in the South Sound.”

The entire week will be filled with daily classes from 10am to 5pm. During the two previous Immersion Weeks, more than 80 students of all ages attended the daily classes, some traveling in carpools from around the region. The classes will include Ballet Technique, Pointe, Pas De Deux, Classical Variations, Contemporary Technique, Modern Technique, Choreography and Theater Stage Craft.

“Exposing more people to the art of classical ballet helps to propagate it. Free Immersion Week allows students to enjoy classes taught by master teachers, accompaniment by professional musicians, and a huge, beautiful ballroom in which to dance. Unlike many other summer programs, this exposure is all free,” said Ceragioli who also serves as the Executive and Artistic Director of Tacoma City Ballet.

Enrollment for the Free Summer Ballet Immersion Week is a simple process that includes submitting your name, address, email, phone, dance experience and current school attendance information to tacomacityballet@gmail.com Celebrating their 67th anniversary this year, Tacoma City Ballet is a non-profit organization that hosts both a ballet school and a performing company. The Ballet School offers classes for students ages 4 years to adulthood, while the Ballet Company produces and presents performance seasons at the Pantages Theater accompanied by the Tacoma City Orchestra.

Since 1983, Tacoma City Ballet has resided in the historic Merlino Art Center where dancers study, rehearse, and perform the art of classical ballet. The Merlino Art Center is also home to The Jan Collum Ballroom Theater, a fully equipped black box theater that doubles as studio space for the school and the company.

TACOMA CITY BALLET

tacomacityballet.com