Melbourne Ballet Company Extension Program

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Melbourne Ballet Company Extension Program

On offer by invitation only, this program is aimed at highly talented students from age 6 to 18, who show potential as future professional dancers. Students receive specialised coaching classes as well as private lessons. Separate exam and performance schedules add to their dance training. Graduates of this program often go on to study at a tertiary level, both in Australia and overseas, with many progressing to roles with professional dance companies including The Australian Ballet.

Our Program

The Melbourne Ballet Company Extension Program is a special, select only, group coaching class and extension training program based on the Vaganova method of training.

We have 4 Melbourne Ballet Company Extension Programs;

MBC Minis 5- 8 years
MBC Junior School 7- 10 years
MBC Middle School 8- 13 years
MBC Senior School 13 – 18 years

The students selected for this opportunity are talented and highly motivated ballet students who have been carefully chosen through an audition process.

This is an additional specialized coaching program to the students current technique class program that they are already on and not a replacement class for a full classical ballet class.

Past MBC Extension Program students have gone on to wonderful performing careers in Ballet Companies all over the world including; the Australian Ballet Company, Royal Ballet Company, Dutch National Ballet Company, English National Ballet, Singapore Ballet Company and of course Melbourne Ballet Company as well as many contemporary ballet companies, musical theatre and performing arts careers.

Past students have gone into dance medicine, dance physiotherapy, dance podiatry, costume design, choreography, teaching and many other wonderful dance related careers.

VISION

To develop, educate and prepare highly talented and dedicated students for the next step towards a possible future career in the dance industry should they choose to.

SCOPE

The MBC Extension class is a formal extension of the Gay Wightman School of Ballet standard curriculum for select students only who have been identified as having outstanding potential in classical ballet.

OUR VALUES

The MBC Coaching class has a very focused approach to carefully coaching and grooming individual steps, concepts and techniques. Our MBC methodology of training is based on the Russian Vaganova method. There will be strong emphasis on technique, posture and alignment, musicality and artistry.

All students will be required to bring an A4 notebook and pens or pencils to class every lesson. Small ,fun, age appropriate homework tasks may be given.

The MBC Coaching Class students do a performance in May, an exam in November and have a special presentation annual awards and scholarship night in December.

Selection Criteria for MBC Extension Program

The following is what we are looking for in successful MBC Extension Program applicants:

– Dedication, hard work, commitment and focus in classical ballet and shown a desire and passion for a possible future career in ballet.
– Beautiful use of port de bras and arm positions
– Awareness of working on posture and alignment
– Hamstring flexibility
– Musicality
– Dance quality, artistry and presentation
– External Rotation of the hips, minimum 45 degrees ideally
– Pointe flexibility, ideally more than 180 degrees
– Calf strength for rises
– Intrinsic foot muscle strength
– Big toe flexibility of minimum 90 degrees
– Calf Length for demi plies
– Straight tracking of the patella
– Body proportions
– Natural facility for classical ballet
– Demonstrates intrinsic motivation for improvement in dance.

Book An Audition for MBC Extension Program

For information on how to audition for the MBC Extension Program or additional information on the course, please contact us below.