ART of in Berlin

I promise this will be my last post on ballet and theater for a while. One of my blogger friends Brianna, of Penny Pinching New Yorker, is also a dancer and wanted to know more about the Berlin State School and the program I am doing in Berlin in August. I knew about the program, but little on the school itself. Below, I have linked the organizations to their direct webpages so you can learn more.

The State Ballet School Berlin offers state certified diplomas for dance education unique for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is the only school in Germany where the students are educated academically along with their dance training. Interestingly enough, the Ballet School united with the Academy for Acrobats in 1991. 

The summer course program I am participating in is called ART of. It is a new and innovative ballet workshop, started in 2012, run by the William Forsythe company (in Frankfurt) and the Semperoper Ballett company (in Dresden). The State Ballet School Berlin  provides our studio space. Our classes will be run by renowned teachers, ballet masters, and choreographers from international dance companies. Below is a video of last summer's program that shows you the dancers exploring the territory of contemporary dance.

I’ve been to numerous ballet summer programs growing up, as part of my training, but this is like no other. In addition to the ballet training, we will work on Forsythe pieces and improvisation techniques taught by his assistants. The dancers have the ability to work with many influential figures in classical and contemporary dance. Since I have never danced internationally before, this will be such a great introduction. The program has invited directors from international companies to watch us and potentially hire us for their companies.

This program is such a great opportunity for me to not only dance in Europe for the first time, but to visit a country that is new to me.