KeNNeSAW STATe UNIVerSITY AND ATlANTA BAlleT
lAUNCH AN eDUCATIoNAl PArTNerSHIP by Jarmea l. Boone
tlanta Ballet and the Program in Dance at Kennesaw State University have formed an educational partnership. The collaboration enables Atlanta Ballet company members and Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education students to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree in dance at KSU. Undergraduate KSU dance students receive special discounts and concessions to Atlanta Ballet performances, classes and events. Advanced level KSU students can audition for supernumerary roles with Atlanta Ballet to gain professional performance experience. Atlanta Ballet also provides internships for KSU dance majors. The collaboration originated after Atlanta Ballet artistic director John McFall attended a KSU dance concert a year ago. Impressed with what he saw, he proposed that the college and company begin working together. The timing was perfect—KSU had just implemented the bachelor’s degree in dance a month earlier. Already, KSU dancers are benefiting from the new partnership. “It’s such a great opportunity for us,” says KSU dance major A.J. Paug, who was a supernumerary in Atlanta Ballet’s “Don Quixote.” “I was thrilled to be able to perform. I was able to watch the dancers perform and watch how everything worked from the best seats in the house. It was an amazing honor.” Atlanta Ballet dancer John Welker, who is now in his second semester as a student in the Program in Dance at KSU, is pleased that he can get a college education while maintaining his busy professional schedule. “The one discovery that surprised me the most was the level of commitment from KSU dancers,” he says. “They have such a contagious intensity. Everyone is encouraging and cares for one another.” “This partnership gives us regional and national recognition through our affiliation with one of the premier ballet companies in the nation,” says Pulinkala, director the KSU Program in Dance, “and Atlanta Ballet is able to diversify the experience of their dancers by offering them the opportunity to pursue a college degree in dance.” For more information about the collaboration, click the Atlanta Ballet link at www.kennesaw.edu/theatre/dance. 10