19 years of

GREAT SUCCESS

Wilmington Ballet Company is a pillar of the arts in Southeastern North Carolina

Wilmington Ballet Company integrates diverse audiences and performers from wide ranging socio-economic, cultural, racial, age, ability, body type, and educational backgrounds into professional calibre ballet productions and educational outreach programs. Through decades of experimentation, the organization has discovered and perfected innovative inclusion techniques that engage a potpourri of people into the art of Ballet. The non-profit production company creates truly impactful experiences for both audiences and participates.

As a non-profit, the company's mission is to impact, educate, and inspire diverse populations through intimate exposure to professional calibre ballet. Collaboration with community groups is the cornerstone for successfully assimilating diverse groups into performances.

Special Olympics, senior performing groups, inner-city outreach organizations, public school drama programs, college art clubs, community opera groups, local theater associations: these are just a sampling of the partner organizations that make the companies’ remarkable diversity possible.

The company additionally intends to grow a diverse audience for the art of ballet. In partnership with US International Ballet, a cutting edge professional ballet company, productions are designed to entertain a twenty first century audience. Visual effects, digital background, and circus arts are all combined with professional ballet to create an exciting theatrical spectacle.

The Wilmington Ballet Company also contracts professional ballet dancers, guest circus artists, visual artists, innovative costumers, seasoned actors, eclectic puppeteers, and a variety of technical artists in order create highly visually entertaining productions. For this reason, the vast majority of performances are sold out!

Ballet outreach is too often simply a lovely performance without any lasting effect for the attendees. Since 1999, Wilmington Ballet Company has been dedicated to creating lasting impact for underserved populations in Southeastern North Carolina. The company partners with educational institutions to create long term opportunities for those who would otherwise be excluded from learning ballet.

Wilmington School of Ballet partners with WBC by offering annual scholarships to outreach participants who show interest but are socio-economically disadvantaged. Inspiration Dance Center partners to bring a classically trained ballerina weekly into a rural city to expand the classical offerings locally available. The company provides curriculum to public school teachers to further the experience of a production into the classroom. Weekly adaptive dance classes are offered with a sliding scale to dancers with mental and physical disabilities. These are just an example of the long term outreach programming provided to the community by the company.

Wilmington Ballet Company is devoted to the belief that arts can heal cultural divides and wounds by bringing diverse peoples together in a creative mission. Below is a link to WHQR about a quintessential Wilmington Ballet Company production where races, ages, and genders were combined in a way that brought social and cultural issues to the forefront in a healing and honest way.

Every year Wilmington Ballet Company produces four theatrical productions that are attended by as many as 5000 people. Over 700 people directly perform and over a dozen community organizations participate. Wilmington Ballet Company intends to be a cultural force for change by opening to all peoples the historically elite art form of ballet and thereby, enriching our world through the beauty of classical dance.

Adaptive Dance

Wilmington Ballet Company (WBC) is committed to making ballet truly accessible to dancers of all abilities. Adaptive dance is based on the belief that everyone can dance. Classes and performances are designed to allow each dancer to be their very best as a student and a performer. Everyone is welcome.

Ballet is an artform meant to deeply impact both the dancer and the audience. Frequently, audience members express emotions about the beauty and meaning of our adaptive dance numbers. Our special dancers feel appreciated and successful when they hear the applause of an audience. Truly our adaptive dance programs achieves the ultimate goal of impacting both the dancer and the audience through the art of ballet.

Performance Inclusion

Adaptive dancers are integrated into performances in one of two ways. Select adaptive dancers may be assimilated directly into a piece in the ballet. However, this is not the perfect fit for all adaptive dancers. Assimilating directly into the ballet may mean managing changing lights, loud music, and being on a specific time frame. This can be too stressful for some adaptive dancers.

WBC strives to give every adaptive dancer a successful performance experience. Therefore, an intermission show is frequently performed by adaptive dancers. This allows for the lights and music to be calm. There is not a specific time limit or other distractions on stage. Inclusion specialist dance team members can be on stage with the adaptive dancers.

Often our company dancers join our adaptive dancers in these intermission show numbers. Adaptive dancers love these special performances, especially the bows! During an intermission show, an adaptive dancer can take all the time they need to bow. This is often an exhilarating experience for both the audience and the dancer.

Classes

Weekly adaptive dance classes are available on a sliding scale. Adaptive dance classes teach the fundamentals of ballet and contemporary. Dance classes provide physical, and social stimulation for adaptive dancers.

Classes teach fundamental coordination, ballet terminology, musicality, and spatial awareness. Dancers learn to work together in making formations and maintaining patterns. Adaptive dancers develop self esteem as they feel the accomplishment of being a part of a dance group.

Breaking Boundaries

Wilmington Ballet Company has a long history of breaking boundaries and ceilings for members of our community. WBC is committed to creating opportunities and opening doors for those who experience limitations in our region.

Limitations are not limited to one race, ability, gender, or peoples. Limitations come in all shapes and sizes. Wilmington Ballet Company collaborates with numerous organizations with the sole purpose of creating opportunity.

Socio-economic challenges, physical/mental limitations, and gender expectations currently are the focus of our groundbreaking work.

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Elizabeth Hester

Executive Director

Mrs. Hester, Executive Director of Wilmington Ballet Company she is also the Founder of the Wilmington School of Ballet & Dance, the Wilmington Preschool of Fine Arts, Glitz & Glam, and ZFitness Wilmington. Her goal in establishing these companies was to provide many opportunities to students in the Lower Cape Fear Region of NC for quality dance education.
Hester was a soloist with Raleigh Dance Theater and a former faculty member of the Raleigh School of Ballet. Hester studied at the Atlanta Ballet as a scholarship student, the Walnut Hill School of the Arts, North Carolina School of the Arts, East Carolina Dance Program, and the Richmond Ballet, & has a degree in Civil Engineering from NC State.