Ballet Arts Minnesota records

Ballet Arts Minnesota was established in 1989 by Marcia Chapman and Bonnie Mathis. Its mission was to provide superior, professional dance training to all students, including those who study ballet pre-professionally and those who study solely for its physical and aesthetic benefits. It openly included children from all races and ethnicities, as well as all physical sizes. It went on to become the premier dance school in the Upper Midwest, and trained dancers who performed with prestigious ballet companies, and were accepted at top universities and college dance programs. Its unique collaboration with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board produced the City Children’s Nutcracker Project (CCNP) that celebrated the cultural and ethnic diversity of Minneapolis in a holiday extravaganza. Classes were taught at inner city parks, and the children participated in the Nutcracker performance at the Orpheum and State Theaters, as well as Northrop Auditorium. Park night provided the neighborhood constituents bussing to the theater, where they watched their community’s children perform with professional dancers, and dancers from the school. Ballet Arts merged with Minnesota Dance Theater and became the Dance Institute in 2006.