STEP IN THE DARK - October 2010 - Ballet program for blind youth.

This is video from the 3rd and 4th class, of our 1st 10 week workshop at the OC Braille Institute. The children are ages 7-13, and we are excited about how quickly they are progressing. We start out with primarily focusing on body awareness and them introducing them slowly to basic dance movements.

In this video you will see them learning to move bigger, taking larger steps and walking backwards, learning different kinds of jumps, and after class #4 already learning how to do an echappe soutte to second changing 5th positions. They have learned 1st, 2nd, and 5th positions, as well as 4th lunge, and demi and grande plie (without a barre for support).

The Hartfel Foundation's outreach program for blind and visually-impaired children. Students benefit from the highly specialized ballet training offered through the Cradle Method, the exclusive training curriculum of the The JohnC Art Ballet.

The Step in the Dark Dance Program is only the first of many outreach programs for the disabled, and will pave the way for future programs for the hearing-impaired, wheel-chair bound, and financially-challenged.

Benefits
-Increased skills for living in a sighted world
-Building confidence in unfamiliar surroundings
-Developing confidence interacting with people outside of a "comfort zone"
-Physical benefits such as improved posture, body --awareness, and poise
-Learning the art of ballet
-Music appreciation
-Stage performance opportunities (for all levels)
-Pursuit of a professional career in dance

To sponsor a child in the program, please contact info@hartfel.org or call the Box Dance Studio at (714) 925-9806, or visit our Donate page.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• blind
• ballet
• dance instruction
• dance