Upcoming Events

“Ballerina Swan” spins the tale of a swan named Sophie who longs to leave her pond in the city park and become a ballerina. With huge wings and bright orange webbed feet, Sophie faces unique challenges alongside human dancers in the classroom. Still, her determination and passion help her achieve her dream: a role in Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake.”

Adapted from the children’s book by Allegra Kent a former principal dancer with New York City Ballet, this live performance brings both humor and charm to the award-winning story.

All students at Eastern Connecticut Ballet have an opportunity to perform in ECB’s Annual Spring Showcase. The Showcase challenges dancers to perform at their highest level, drawing upon lessons learned, skills acquired, and repertory memorized.

The Magic Doll House:  1:30pm

Our youngest dancers (Pre Ballet and First Steps) take their place on stage in this charming ballet created just for children by Laura Barnard.

All-School Performance: 5:00pm

Our Classical Ballet Program students (levels 1-8) and members of ECB’s Youth Company present classical, modern, and original choreography staged by Gloria Govrin, Jeremy Cox, Laura Barnard, Marc Spielberger, Alison Charbonnier, Olivia Turtoro, and Bo Parish.

ECB takes great pride in the accomplishments of their dancers. The spring performance is the perfect showcase for student achievement.

Join us for a masterclass with Broadway Dancer Dani Spieler at Eastern Connecticut Ballet!

Masterclass fee: $40.00

Dani Spieler has appeared on Broadway in A Bronx Tale, Cats, Chicago and Legally Blonde. She has also appeared in the National Tours of Cabaret, West Side Story, Elf and Flashdance. Other New York City credits include the pre-Broadway workshops of Nerds and First Date, as well as the Joyce Theater debut of American Dance Machine for the 21^st Century. Regionally, Dani has performed at Paper Mill Playhouse, Marriott Theatre, Houston TUTS & Goodspeed Opera House. She can be seen on TV and film in Magnum P.I., Are You Joking? and That’s What She Said starring Anne Heche. She was also a series regular on the Hulu/Web Series The Battery’s Down. Dani is the associate choreographer of Theatreworks USA’s The Teacher From The Black Lagoon and Other Storybooks, which has toured the country numerous times. Dani is a proud graduate of The University of Michigan.

Register through your jackrabbit portal by searching the class names CATS levels 4/5 or CATS levels 6/7/8

Eastern Connecticut Ballet dancers in levels 7 and 8 are invited to join us for a masterclass with Ashley Bouder of New York City Ballet!

There is no charge for this class!  It is our gift to our hardworking and dedicated advanced students!  Level 7 modern will be cancelled on this evening and Level 8 modern will move to 6:15 - 7:45.

Ashley Bouder was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and began her ballet training at the age of six at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet with Marcia Dale Weary.

After attending the 1999 Summer Program at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, she was invited by SAB to continue her training during the Winter Session.

As a student, Ms. Bouder performed featured roles in Balanchine's Dances Concertantes and Stars and Stripes for the School of American Ballet's 2000 Annual Spring Workshop.

Ms. Bouder was named an apprentice with New York City Ballet in June 2000 and became a member of the corps de ballet that October. She was promoted to the rank of soloist in February 2004, and in January 2005, Ms. Bouder was promoted to principal dancer.

This film is brought to you in partnership with The Kate and features Eastern Connecticut Ballet's Artistic Director, Gloria Govrin.

Ms. Govrin has been an invaluable mainstay to the Ballet World. A product of The School of American Ballet and New York City Ballet, she is considered one of the leading masters of the Balanchine Technique.

IN BALANCHINE’S CLASSROOM takes us back to the glory years of George Balanchine’s New York City Ballet through the remembrances of his former dancers and their quest to fulfill the vision of a genius. Opening the door to his studio, Balanchine’s private laboratory, they reveal new facets of the groundbreaking choreographer: taskmaster, mad scientist, and spiritual teacher. Today, as his former dancers teach a new generation, questions arise: what was the secret of his teaching? Can it be replicated?

Filled with never-before-seen archival footage of Balanchine at work during rehearsals, classes, and in preparation for his most seminal works, along with interviews with many of his adored and adoring dancers and those who try to carry on his legacy today, this is Balanchine as you have never seen him, and a film for anyone who loves ballet and the creative process.

Shown on the Kate's BIG Screen!

*The Kate's health and safety policies can be viewed HERE.

Advanced students ages 12+

$65 per class

*Per SAB, all participating dancers must be vaccinated and boosted against Covid-19.  

Suki Schorer began her professional career with the San Francisco Ballet and joined the New York City Ballet in 1959, becoming a principal dancer in 1968. Her repertory included principal roles in Apollo, Serenade, Concerto Barocco, Symphony in C, Stars and Stripes, Tarantella and Jewels among others. Balanchine choreographed solo roles on her in Don Quixote, Raymonda Variations, Harlequinade, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

In the early 1960s, George Balanchine asked Ms. Schorer to assist him as a teacher at the Company and in Ford Foundation Seminars for teachers. She started as a guest teacher at the School of American Ballet while still a fairly new corps dancer in the Company and she also took class with several of the founding teachers of the school. In 1972, Ms. Schorer became a permanent member of the faculty, teaching intermediate and advanced students. That same year at Balanchine’s request, she reorganized the NYCB lecture-demonstration program for public schools, which she oversaw until 1995.

Ms. Schorer lectures on Balanchine aesthetics and guest teaches widely in the United States and abroad. She is the author of the award-winning Suki Schorer on Balanchine Technique (Knopf, 1999) and Put Your Best Foot Forward: A Young Dancer’s Guide to Life (Workman Publishing, 2005); and is the recipient of the Dance Magazine Award for 1998, among other honors.