Ballet d’Jèrri’s work with education
One of the proudest achievements of our company is our impactful work within schools. We are dedicated to sparking curiosity, nurturing positive mindsets, and offering the opportunity for the children of our community to discover the joy, discipline, and beauty of dance.
To date we have visited more than 25 schools, working with more than 1000 children and young people.
Our work in academic schools allows us to reach an un-biased cross section of young people from different backgrounds. We have offered:
⁃ One-off Workshops
⁃ 6 week Dance Courses
⁃ ‘Safe to be Me’ program alongside our guests from Scottish Ballet
⁃ Secondary school workshops based upon the work of choreographers that form part of the Dance GCSE curriculum
Our 6-Week Primary School Programme
Helen Oliver, our Director of Children and Youth programs, was born in Jersey as danced as a soloist with English National Ballet. She has combined her wealth of experience in both dance and education to tailor a 6-week course for primary school students that aligns with the existing curriculum. We have coordinated with teachers to create engaging and holistic ways to augment the students’ learning, such as Evolution, Space, The Rainforest, and Native America. The children have had the opportunity to explore both ballet and contemporary styles of dance through warm-ups, choreography, and individual, partner and group work. They get the chance to perform for and watch the professional dancers, ask questions, and build connections with positive role models.
“There are few things more satisfying than witnessing a class of 8-11yr olds, transform within only 6 weeks, from a somewhat reluctant and certainly apprehensive group of individuals, to a fully immersed and enthusiastic company of dancers, confidently taking centre stage to perform their own choreographies.”
—Helen Oliver
“At first I really didn’t want to do ballet but now I want to do it more!”
“Ballet is not what you think it’s about! Like if you are a boy you might think I don’t want to do ballet but you might actually like it.”
If you would like to learn more about our work in schools, please contact Helen Oliver on hon@ballet.je.