Interning with the ABT National Training Curriculum

By Kathleen McClure, National Training Curriculum Intern

The best thing about being the National Training Curriculum intern is that there is always something going on! During the year, we organize teacher trainings, refresher courses, and affiliate exams for the over seven hundred dance educators in our database, and through marketing and conferences, we reach out to even more. Each year the number of certified teachers grows considerably, and this spring we organized trainings in New York, Orlando, San Jose, and Peru! It is a very exciting time to be with the NTC.

The most meaningful experience of my internship was getting to help out with the February teacher training that took place here in New York City. Over seventy dance educators arrived at the ABT studios to spend the week learning, teaching, dancing, and mastering the principles of ABT’s curriculum. Those who passed both a written and an oral exam gained their ABT teacher certifications. During the week, I helped perform all sorts of logistical and administrative duties. Some tasks, like preparing curriculum materials, tallying test scores, and producing certificates and information packets for mailing, were the same that I performed for other teacher trainings; however, this time, I also got to make a more hands-on contribution. I had the opportunity to meet many teachers undergoing training while working the NTC boutique, and I even got to sit in and watch parts of certain training sessions. It was great to put faces to names, and it was fascinating to see the artistic staff in action. There was great energy during each class, and I could tell by the end of the week that each teacher had come out of the training with a renewed perspective on teaching ballet. It was very affirming seeing how all our work in the office contributes to the finished product, and it put the work that I did for the rest of the semester in context. The National Training Curriculum just continues to grow, and I am excited to see what great new initiatives happen in the year to come.

NTC February Training, Levels Primary through 3