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Richmond Ballet's Minds In Motion interprets local history with End-of-the-Year Performance
5/6/2008
RICHMOND BALLET
MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 6, 2008
Media Contact:
Aaron
Sutten
Director of Marketing and Communications
Richmond Ballet
(804)
344-0906 x244
asutten@richmondballet.com
Richmond Ballet's Minds In Motion interprets
local history with End-of-the-Year Performance
Discover Richmond’s
roots through dance…
In its 13th
season, Richmond Ballet’s Minds In Motion
program will culminate in a performance that traces our capital city’s history from
the time of the Powhatan Indians to the present day. The spectacle of 700 fourth-grade students
taking the stage in unison will inspire audiences of this much-anticipated
event. In total, 1,400 Minds In Motion participants in alternating
casts will put on four exhilarating shows over the course of one weekend, with 2:30
p.m. and 5 p.m. performances of Richmond:
Let It Shine on both Saturday, May 17, and Sunday, May 18, 2008.
Robert
Hicks, a Minds In Motion student who
attends J.B. Fisher Elementary, said, “Minds
In Motion is a great learning experience. I like the way you interpret
learning through dance. It's great the way Minds
In Motion gets people to exercise.”
Each
year, as many as 12,000 audience members take the opportunity to learn from the
students and celebrate their dedication and hard work by attending the end-of-the-year
Performance.
Richmond Ballet’s Minds In Motion is a curriculum-based,
year-long program designed to teach fourth-grade students the importance of
discipline and self-confidence through the medium of movement. Under the guidance of Richmond Ballet
Education and Minds In Motion Director
Brett Bonda, Central Virginia students take on
both mental and physical challenges and learn the benefit of applying themselves.
A pianist accompanies each class, adding lessons in the elements of rhythm and
tempo to the enrichment program, which requires students to count the beats and
measures of music. The experience improves physical coordination,
concentration, memorization skills and mathematical abilities.
Stella Byrd, a
student of Riverside school, participated in
the educational initiative this year.
“I
have learned a lot this year in Minds In
Motion,” Byrd said. “Minds In Motion
helps me with my memory and with sequencing dance steps. It is cool because we
learn about
history, and I love the piano music.”
This
innovative program has garnered praise from parents, teachers, school
administrators and the participating students, received awards from the city and
community, and grown in the past 13 years from serving one school in Richmond to 19 schools in locations such as Charles City, Chesterfield, Hanover, Henrico, Hopewell and Richmond
Claudia Altman, a student at DuPont
Elementary in Hopewell,
expressed her enthusiasm for the program by touting her newfound confidence.
“Since I have done Minds In Motion it
makes me want to dance more,” Altman said. “Now I am going to take ballet or
jazz classes. I am ready to dance now because I know I can!”
To prepare for this year’s
performance, classes from the participating schools visited
the Valentine Richmond History Center to learn more about the history of Richmond.
The students used this background information to help them depict important
events in the founding and development of the city of Richmond through movement. The performance will incorporate the impact
of significant historical figures, such as William Byrd II, John Mayo, Patrick
Henry and Maggie Walker. It also
explores the city’s achievements as a whole, including the fact that both the
first hospital and the first electric trolley car system in the United States were located here in Richmond.
The
Minds In Motion End-of-the-Year
Performance, Richmond: Let It Shine,
offers people of all ages an opportunity to discover facts they never knew
about their local history while enjoying a high-energy show free of charge.
Fast Facts:
Who?
Richmond Ballet’s Minds In Motion.
What?
Minds
In Motion End-of-the-Year Performance,
Richmond: Let It Shine
When? Saturday, May 17, and Sunday, May 18, at 2:30
p.m. and 5 p.m.
Where?
Arthur Ashe Athletic Center, Richmond, VA
How much? FREE! Please call Jordan Livermon at 804-344-0906, ext.
223 for more information or to reserve tickets. Admission is free of charge.
###
Richmond Ballet, The State Ballet of
Virginia, is dedicated to the education, promotion, preservation and continuing
evolution of the art form of ballet. Richmond Ballet strives
to keep meaningful works of dance alive and to produce and foster new works
that remain true to these values. Now in
its 24th professional season,
Richmond Ballet's mission is to "awaken and uplift the human spirit, both for
audiences and artists."
***
For further press information contact:
Aaron Sutten, Director of Marketing and
Communications
EMAIL: asutten@richmondballet.com ;
CALL: (804) 344-0906 x244