Connecting through a shared heartbeat
In a world fueled by its diversity, dance has the power to reach across identities. Even with our varying backgrounds and stories, we cannot ignore the rhythm we feel in our hearts. At our core, we are all connected. Through outreach, we bridge the gap to expand appreciation for ballet as an approachable and relevant arts experience. We welcome the opportunity to connect with you.
Bringing ballet beyond performances, to our community
Madison Ballet Outreach creates opportunities to experience ballet through programs in schools, libraries, community spaces, theaters, classrooms, and online. We invite audiences of all ages to encounter ballet as a living art form—one made by dancers, choreographers, musicians, designers, teachers, and the communities around them.
We create accessible, safe, welcoming, and flexible spaces to experience the magic of dance. We offer camps for children ages five to eight to explore and problem solve through musical styles and cultures through classical and contemporary ballet and traditional West African dance and music. We engage by guiding people to express themselves positively through physicality, and movement. We expose the offstage and personal elements of training that showcase advanced and pre-professional students from the School of Madison Ballet. We introduce young dancers to ballet—encouraging positivity, healthy practices, social, and emotional learning to build courage and confidence.
Whether you’re seeing ballet for the first time or have been watching it for years, our programs offer new ways to look closely, ask questions, meet artists, and discover how dance is made.
Ballet in Schools
Madison Ballet brings the experience of a professional ballet company directly into area schools.
Our school programs combine live dance with conversation and demonstration, introducing students to the physical discipline, artistry, music, storytelling, and collaborative work behind ballet. Programs can be adapted for different ages and settings and may feature Madison Ballet dancers, trainees, teaching artists, and members of our Outreach team.
Students don’t just watch ballet—they get a chance to look inside it.
Ballet Storytime
Madison Ballet brings the experience of a professional ballet company directly into area schools.
Our school programs combine live dance with conversation and demonstration, introducing students to the physical discipline, artistry, music, storytelling, and collaborative work behind ballet. Programs can be adapted for different ages and settings and may feature Madison Ballet dancers, trainees, teaching artists, and members of our Outreach team.
Students don’t just watch ballet—they get a chance to look inside it.
Before & after the performance
The conversation doesn’t have to begin when the curtain rises—or end when it falls.
At select shows, Madison Ballet Outreach presents pre-performance programs and post-show talkbacks that bring audiences closer to the people, ideas, music, history, and creative decisions behind what they’ve just seen.
Talkbacks feature dancers and members of the artistic and creative teams in informal conversation with Madison Ballet Outreach, giving audiences an opportunity to ask questions and hear directly from the artists who make the work.
Exploring Ballet
What happens before a ballet reaches the stage? What goes into the ballet culture we receive and how do we develop that into a future we want to see? At Madison Ballet, we ask questions of dancers, writers, and administrators, and let everyone hear the answers.
Through demonstrations, talks, workshops, and other special programs, Madison Ballet Outreach offers a closer look at ballet as both an art and a craft. Programs may explore everything from pointe shoes and partnering to choreography, music, design, ballet history, and the daily work of a professional dancer.
These events are designed for curious people—not experts. Come knowing nothing about ballet or come ready to argue about Balanchine.
At the Barre with Madison Ballet
Go behind the curtain with the people who make ballet.
At the Barre with Madison Ballet is Madison Ballet’s podcast featuring conversations with dancers, choreographers, designers, musicians, teachers, and other artists about their work and the world of ballet.
Hosted by Madison Ballet’s Director of Outreach, Chris Fahrenthold, the podcast explores not only what audiences see onstage, but how a ballet gets there: the training, collaboration, decisions, accidents, traditions, and personalities behind the finished performance.
Listen on our podcast page.
Bring Madison Ballet to Your Community
Madison Ballet Outreach partners with schools, libraries, universities, community organizations, and other groups throughout the region.
Programs can range from a single visit or demonstration to a conversation, workshop, performance-related event, or longer collaboration. If you have a group you’d like to introduce to ballet—or an idea you’d like to explore with us—we’d love to hear from you.
Contact Madison Ballet Outreach:
outreach@madisonballet.org
