Bluegrass Youth Ballet performances are educational and incorporate other disciplines such as music, world culture, language arts, social studies, or Spanish. Students learn to work as a part of one body and discover their most significant potential as individual performers and artists. Learning about courage, anxiety management, time management, commitment, and discipline are some basic skills that dancers will apply as performers and can be mirrored in any part of their lives.
Dancers who show maturity and stamina are eligible to perform (usually Pre-ballet 2, but it depends on the show). However, it is not required. Most rehearsals occur outside of the student’s regular classes to maintain the integrity and quality of their dance education. Dance is a performing art, and BYB feels it is essential for students to feel comfortable on the stage. In addition to two or three significant performances per year, Bluegrass Youth Ballet students perform in several community events, giving students community service opportunities and promoting a feeling of “giving back” to the community among students.
Most of our programming includes two school shows (field trips), which are very reasonably priced and accessible to schools in the community and beyond, and two public performances, which are open to the general public.
BYB MAKES DANCE ACCESSIBLE TO THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE WITH AFFORDABLE TICKET PRICES. ENTIRE FAMILIES CAN ATTEND OUR PERFORMANCES!
Alebrijes, Pedro’s Magical Spirit Creatures
September 26 – 28, 2024
Mitchell Fine Arts Center at Transylvania University
Join Bluegrass Youth Ballet in partnership with Transylvania University in this iconic ballet; narrated in English and Spanish, Alebrijes depicts the true story of Pedro Linares, a Mexican cartonista (cardboard craftsman) who becomes ill. While convalescent, Pedro dreams of a forest where the Earth’s elements dance and swirl. These earthly elements transform into creatures that frighten Pedro as they shout the word “Alebrijes”. Pedro escapes these creatures through a window, showing how these fantastical creatures got their form, colors, and shapes. Pedro unexpectedly wakes up from his sleep and sees the alebrijes dancing together. With this colorful image in his head, he begins to tell his family about them. He is cured of his illness and later turns the alebrijes into drawings and cardboard figurines. His family members learn to make alebrijes out of cardboard. Pedro’s dream about the alebrijes became one of the most beautiful forms of Mexican folk art.
The Nutcracker in One Act
December 19 – 21, 2024
Singletary Center for the Arts
Presented in a single, family-friendly act, BYB’s version of The Nutcracker was created with younger audiences in mind, condensing the enchantment to one hour to keep the attention of younger children. Follow the adventures of Clara, a young girl that receives a beautiful Nutcracker on Christmas Eve. Delighted with the gift, Clara falls asleep holding her new toy until she’s suddenly awakened as a mouse steals her Nutcracker. Suddenly, her living room is magically transformed into a battlefield where the Nutcracker fights off the Rat Queen. The Snow Queen arrives and sweeps Clara and the Nutcracker through the Land of Snow to the Land of Sweets, where colorful visitors entertain them with dances from around the world. Clara’s mother finds her asleep on the couch where Clara has dreamt the fabulous story of The Nutcracker.
The Little Mermaid
April 3 – April 5, 2025
The Lexington Opera House
Based on Hans Christian Andersen’s story of The Little Mermaid, BYB brings once more onstage its rendition of the story narrated in English and Spanish, as a young mermaid falls in love with a human. It is a story of love, undersea adventures, battles of evil and good, magic potions, and an end with a twist. This epic visual adaptation will leave you breathless. In addition to the lead characters, the story comes to life with the Little Mermaid sisters, a Sea Witch, and a host of underwater creatures, including dolphins, jellyfish, clownfish, a crab, seahorses, angelfish, eels, and a giant, beautiful seadragon puppet.