The Other Side of the National Training Curriculum

The crazy Met season for the company may be over but the busiest time for the National Training Curriculum (NTC) has just begun! I am one of two interns working for the NTC this summer. The NTC provides a scientific approach to the training and education of classical ballet, which aims to produce healthy and well-rounded dancers through the training of dance educators. The curriculum of the American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School is based on the NTC and it has been producing numbers of amazing dancers. At the Department of Education and Training, we are working on the administrative side of NTC, making sure that it is serving its mission.

One of the major aspects of the NTC is to offer the teacher training sessions. Now, more than 1,000 teachers have been certified in the NTC and the number is still growing. We have many sessions throughout the year but the summer is definitely one of the busiest seasons as we have them not only in the US but also internationally, with the largest session happening at ABT’s 890 Broadway Studios in NYC. Our NYC session started last week with the section of Levels 4 and 5. It was great to see all our preparation come into action with ballet teachers from all over the world. We are still learning and figuring out what works best as we implement—-just like teaching ballet!

I am studying ABT’s National Training Curriculum with the partnership Master’s program at New York University. I’ve been studying the materials of the curriculum for the past year, but it has been a whole different experience to see the administrative side of NTC. Also, I had a chance to audit and take a class for Levels 6 and 7 today during my day off. Having the teachers from all over the world added another layer of energy, excitement, and knowledge to the already extensive learning experience I’ve been having at NYU.

It’s about half way through the NYC Summer session, and we are expecting the largest session with 110 teachers for Pre-Primary through Level 3 section next week. Merde to all the teachers who are taking the teacher certificate exam! We’re going to make your time here to be the best learning experience 🙂

Minami Hara

National Training Curriculum Intern

Summer 2014