Residencies

Residencies

Residency programs are extended encounters with dance and are inspired by curricular themes and topics currently being explored by the students and teachers. Residencies may be as little as 4 in-school visits or as many as you would like! All residencies are taught by professional teaching artists with backgrounds in dance and arts integration. Each residency is tailored to the needs of individual classrooms and schools and align with PDE Academic Standards and national standards for dance and the arts.

Interested in booking a residency at your school? Contact the Director of Education, Alyssa Herzog Melby, today at 412-454-9105 or amelby@pittsburghballet.org for more information!

PBT is proud to have two long-standing, exemplary residency programs in place at Pittsburgh Public Schools.

Creative Movement Residency Program

Since 1997, PBT has partnered with Pittsburgh Public Schools to provide Creative Movement residency programs to young elementary children. Creative Movement provides creative dance classes for students in Grades 1 and 2 and offers opportunities for theater attendance to Grade 3. A PBT teacher and accompanist, team-teaching with a classroom teacher, provide a nine-week movement experience for students, reinforced by activities in the classroom. The Creative Movement Residency program regularly reaches over 350 students a year.

Current schools in the Creative Movement Residency program:

  • Pittsburgh Schaeffer Primary
  • Pittsburgh Liberty Elementary
  • Pittsburgh Spring Hill Elementary

Preschool Creative Movement Residency Program

The Preschool Creative Movement Residency program was piloted in 2007-2008 in collaboration with the Early Childhood Education Department in the Pittsburgh Public Schools. A Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre teacher along with a percussion accompanist works in collaboration with PPS teachers to provide sequential Creative Movement classes for Pre-K students at specific sites throughout the City schools. The Residency also includes special performance experiences, including a Ballet FUNdamentals instructional performance for each participating classroom, and supplemental curricular activities for the classroom teacher.

In the 2010-2011 school year, the Preschool Creative Movement Residency program reached over 240 students at the following sites:

  • Faison Primary
  • Homewood Early Childhood Center

Past sites for the Preschool Creative Movement Residency program:

  • Chartiers Early Education Center
  • Children's Museum
  • Reizenstein Early Childhood program
  • Spring Garden
  • Troy Hill