Photo courtesy of The Dancer's Workshop
Participating in ballet means joining an artistic tradition that has endured for more than half a millennium. The form evolved in Italy at the beginning of the sixteenth century. Catherine de Medici brought ballet to France when she married Henry II in 1553. From there, the craze grew. Louis XIV of France became so enamored with ballet that in 1661, he established the Académie Royale de la Danse, the first formal school of its kind in the Western world. As ballet spread around the globe, various teaching methodologies evolved. The goal, though, remained the same: to tell complex, human stories through a genre of dance centered around total harmony and spellbinding athletics.
The Dancer’s Workshop, which was founded in Baton Rouge in 1973 by Molly Buchmann and Sharon Mathews, continues that long tradition. Although The Dancer’s Workshop and Buchmann and Mathews’ other lifelong project—Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre—are separate entities, they share a common goal: ensuring that Louisiana’s capital city retains an active ballet company. Training to become a ballet dancer is a long process that requires a strong, supportive community. For many young hopefuls, classes at The Dancer’s Workshop represent the first steps of a journey towards one day joining the Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre. “That’s the goal for most of our dancers,” Rebecca Acosta, one of the workshop’s associate directors and the daughter of Sharon Mathews, said. “The Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre has a youth ballet program that we audition, starting at ten years old. Then we have our company, our semi-professional dancers. They’re high schoolers, and a few college kids. They perform in the big performances, like The Nutcracker: A Tale from the Bayou and our spring show. Once they start, they get the bug. The goal is to go all the way through.”
Both Acosta and Associate Director Jonna Cox are trained to teach the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet Method. Pioneered by Marcia Dale Weary in the 1950s, the CPYB curriculum draws on the teachings of Russian pedagogue Agrippina Vaganova, while adding distinctive American flair. With a focus on clean lines and neat, quicksilver technique, CPYB method training provides an essential foundation for any young dancer.
Recently, ballet classes for adults have experienced a surge in popularity. Whether or not one has grown up taking lessons, the benefits of ballet for building strength, flexibility, stamina and coordination are well documented. The Dancer’s Workshop was well ahead of the current trend—the school has offered classes for adults since the late 1990s. In response to the current interest in adult dance classes, the Workshop has amped up its roster even more. Classical ballet at both beginner’s and intermediate levels, modern dance, and tap-dancing are all available to adult students. “Dance is a wonderful physical activity,” Cox said. “You don’t have to necessarily be professionally minded to come and be a part of ballet.”
“Technically, it’s the hardest style of dance,” Acosta said. “A lot of the time audiences don’t appreciate it, or they don’t understand what they’re watching. People who actually come in and take class have a new appreciation for the love of ballet.”
