Week of January 11-15, 2021
To Read
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Welcome to ABTKids Daily, American Ballet Theatre’s home for families and educators to discover digital content for their virtual classrooms. Join us each day to Meet an ABT Dancer, engage with an ABT Teaching Artist, learn fun facts and enjoy ballet-themed activities from the comfort of your own home.
As America’s National Ballet Company®, ABT is dedicated to preserving and extending the great legacy of classical dancing, through exciting performances and educational programming of the highest quality, presented to the widest possible audience.
Join us each Monday morning to bring the joy of classical ballet to your family. A weekly curriculum will be posted for your discovery!
ABTKids Daily is generously supported by
Explore this week’s materials below or view the archive here.
Watch ABTKids 2020: B is for Ballet!
Presented in partnership with Random House Children’s Books,
the program is inspired by B Is for Ballet: A Dance Alphabet.
To Read
To Watch
To Do
Join Mr. Jeff, Ms. Alexis and Mr. Richard as they introduce you to one of ABT’s fabulous ballets. Learn a dance, stop and sketch, and don’t forget to have fun!
For each movement, enter the letter of the correct definition:
Did you know that ABT is celebrating its 80th Anniversary this year? ABT was founded in 1940 and quickly emerged on the American cultural landscape with a new unique vision of a ballet company that functioned like an art museum!
Fun Fact: American Ballet Theatre was originally called “Ballet Theatre” and didn’t add the “American” until the 1950’s at the request of President Eisenhower.
This is the first advertisement and Playbill program for the Company’s first season in 1940.
Does it look any different than advertisements today?
Use this timeline to journey through Eight Decades of American Ballet Theatre.
View TimelineCan you create a timeline of your own dance journey?
Every Thursday we pull a photo from our archives and share it with one of our ABT dancers. You never know what stories may come from a single snapshot!
“This photo goes way back to my second summer intensive with ABT, where I was a National Training Scholar. Being able to perform a small solo in Jardin Animé, with my mom, my friends and the ABT Artistic staff watching, felt surreal but also nerve-wracking. A couple days prior to the show, some of us from a few different levels in the summer program received a letter asking us to attend a mini ‘audition.’ I remember walking in the room that was filled with artistic staff members from ABT’s main Company and also the ABT JKO School. I was so nervous and flustered to be dancing in a room with so many knowledgeable eyes watching me! Before the show, I found out that I had received a full scholarship to the JKO School for the following semester. I felt extremely nervous before the show because of the extra pressure I put on myself to impress those important people watching me. I wanted to prove to them that I belong here and that I would be honored to be a part of this incredible company I had dreamt about since I was 11 years old.”
Describe a time when you were nervous or scared on the inside, but had to be calm and cool on the outside.
In the Spring of 2020, @ABTSchool launched virtual classes taught by former ABT dancers, ABT JKO School faculty and ABT teaching artists – all certified in the ABT National Training Curriculum.
Recommended for ages 2-4 and 5-8, these classes engage ABT’s youngest students and their families, as well as the global community at large, by exploring musicality, fostering creativity and imagination, and teaching ballet fundamentals.
View the full series on @ABTSchool IGTV or ABT’s YouTube Channel.