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Ballet West Academy’s New Virtual Seminar Empowers Teachers to Build Their Own Curriculum

Utah-based Ballet West Academy is setting out to revolutionize dance education with its innovative Curriculum Design Seminar—a four-day virtual program designed to empower dance educators with a unique approach to ballet instruction. Originally taught internally for four years, the seminar is now branching out to instruct experienced teachers and academy directors who create curriculum and syllabi for their own studios. The general cognitive-development information will also be especially valuable for teachers beginning their journey or those building their experience with children.

Though many of the examples and references within the Curriculum Design Seminar will be offered in the context of a ballet class, the general education concepts can apply to all dance styles. The seminar will be led by Stacey Forsyth Mahan, associate director of curriculum for Ballet West Academy, and Evelyn Cisneros-Legate, director of Ballet West Academy.

One important aspect of the program is that it isn’t about telling teachers what to teach—it instead provides tools to help them build a ballet curriculum that works for their studio. There will be a strong focus on child development and benchmarks for learning, considering age and maturity associated with learning ballet.

“While the expectations of dancers continue to change, the ways in which children naturally grow and develop have not changed,” Cisneros-Legate says. “Therefore, we started by looking at research in general education and child development to bridge this gap.” She adds that the seminar incorporates an important need in training: knowledge of social emotional development, because understanding this greatly benefits the learning and well-being of children and teens.

Ballet Academy West’s Curriculum Design Seminar

Cost: $400 for seminar only; $500 for seminar and follow-up consultation. Inquire for pricing about affiliate programs with an in-person visit to your school by BWA faculty.
Location: Live online sessions (concurrent)
Time commitment: February 24–27, 11 am–1 pm EST/9 am–11 am MST. Two hours a day for four days, plus possible follow-up consultation sessions.
Frequency: The first session will be offered in February 2025. Additional sessions will be offered in the future.
academy.balletwest.org/curriculum-design-seminar

Photo by Michael Waldrop, courtesy Ballet West

The post Ballet West Academy’s New Virtual Seminar Empowers Teachers to Build Their Own Curriculum appeared first on Dance Teacher.

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Tapas Das: Tapas Das, a young entrepreneur of our times started TWIST N TURNS in 2005. A person who is kind, generous, creative and down to earth wanted to start his own one of a kind dance academy. According to him, Dance is a language of movements that involves space, time and the human body. He was born and grew up in Kolkata, the cultural hub of India. Being appreciated in the field of dance all his life, he is extremely talented. He has been dancing since the age of four. Once he finished his high school, he learned jazz/modern and contemporary dance. His horizons were broadened even more when he started dancing Bollywood with Beat Busters for 4 years, which then was the most upcoming dance crew in Kolkata. After that exposure, he studied how to be a dance teacher, which later started helping him impart his knowledge about dance. Thus, in 2005, with the help of family and friends, he started TWIST N TURNS. Starting with a mere number of 40 students, today TWIST N TURNS currently has over 500 students. Over the time Tapas has taught and performed all over the country. He has performed in cities such as Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Jhansi, Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Udaipur etc. He has been an active participant in the Salsa India Congress in the cities of Bangalore and Bombay, and he has also visited various International Salsa Congresses in Europe, namely in Berlin ,Singapore, Hong Kong,Dubai. He is been also trained recently at Broadway Dance Center (New York), Alvin Alley (New York) and Steps on Broadway (New York). He is not only a dancer or teacher. He is a successful choreographer and has coordinated various shows without difficulty in our country. His leadership skills are exceptional, thus he is where he stands today. His aim in life would be to become a dance educator. He wants to share his tremendous knowledge in the right way to the right people. He is also, simultaneously running other brands like Zumba Kolkata, Bollywood Studio ArtistWala.com and India International Dance Institute.