Dance clubs/other dance options at Pitt?

mercymom
Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:26:09 +0000

My D has also taken class with the ballet club. This semester she has signed up for a ballet class and a modern dance class. The dance program is run through the PE dept (i think) and you can get a dance minor (although D is not doing it, it is an option).

The dance club was started by a girl last year who danced professionally with the Louisville Ballet before deciding to leave the company and go to college after all. At one of the classes D went to in the spring, she met a girl who is minoring in ballet who was a student at SAB in NY (School of American Ballet). She too eventually decided on college rather than a ballet career and wound up at Pitt. The SAB student told D that the ballet instructor at Pitt is awesome and reminds her a lot of her NY teachers. They also do modern and latin dance.

Actually, I’m not aware of any ballet classes offered at CMU. otoh, Point Park University downtown has a ballet major (a girl from D’s studio here goes there and we are about to send another girl to Point Park; one of our guys just graduated from CMU in musical theater). Point Park advertised in the Pitt newspaper last year that they have classes open to the public so students who attend other universities/colleges in Pittsburgh can take class there.

The girl we know who goes to Point Park attended summer intensives all over the country (Joffrey San Antonio, Joffrey NY, Boston Ballet, NC School of Arts) and was on full scholarship in NY and Boston. She thinks very highly of Point Park’s program so I’m sure the classes are good.

Also, PBT (Pittsburgh Ballet Theater) has a school that has class for anyone who signs up. When you look on the map it seems like it is near the Pitt campus, but how easy it is to actually get to I don’t know. Good luck!