Estelle Dennis/Peabody Dance Training Program for Boys

For young males, age 9-15, with a keen but unfulfilled interest in dance, who live in Baltimore City or County. This is their moment to start fulfilling their dreams!

For 2009-2010, its inaugural year, the Estelle Dennis/Peabody Dance Training Program for Boys chose approximately 20-25 exceptional boys who have the raw ability, physical facility, and real desire to dance. For 2010-2011, 18 more boys have been selected for a second class, in addition to the class for the 2009-2010 boys who are continuing. Classes will be held on Saturdays from 9:00 to 10:30 for first-year boys and from 10:30-12:00 for second-year boys. An orientation for parents and students will be held with the first class on September 11 (see download below for details).

Boys selected to participate receive:

• Tuition-free training that includes weekly Saturday classes during Peabody Dance’s 32-week Fall/Spring 2010-2011 season and required dance shoes.
• Additional opportunities to participate in trips to professional dance performances, visits with former Baltimorean male dancers who have had successful professional careers, and screenings of great male performers past and present.
• An extraordinary course of study primarily focusing on basic ballet, the foundation for all theatrical dance from the classical company to Broadway and TV, plus the introduction of various other forms such as contemporary, hip-hop, and African.
• Training by the program’s artistic leaders, outstanding teachers and other guest artists including:
  • Carol Bartlett, Artistic Director of Peabody Dance, has shaped and developed its dance program for twenty years. She is a diverse and prolific choreographer who created and continues to teach Peabody Preparatory’s outstanding contemporary dance core training program.
  • Barbara Weisberger, Artistic Advisor of Peabody Dance since 2001, is the founder and was Artistic Director of the internationally renowned Pennsylvania Ballet and Carlisle Project. Weisberger was a protégé and long-time colleague of George Balanchine, and has played a preeminent role in the development of American classical ballet and performing arts across the United States.
  • Meredith Rainey, who joined the Estelle Dennis Dance Scholarship Program for Boys at Peabody in its inaugural year, was a dancer and eventually a soloist with the Pennsylvania Ballet for nineteen years until 2006. He also danced with the Milwaukee Ballet and the Dance Theater of Harlem. Since 2006, Rainey has focused his creative energy on an award-winning choreographic career and teaching ballet.
  • Timothy Rinko-Gay, alternate teacher for the Estelle Dennis Dance Scholarship Program for Boys, already is an outstanding member of the Peabody Dance faculty. His career in dance has been greatly shaped by intensive study and teacher training with the legendary Marcia Dale Weary at her Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet.