Flashback: Winter Adventures!

Before the Thorn tour we relaxed a little during Christmas break, came back and hit the studios for more classes and rehearsals to prepare for our 2015 Great Lakes Tour to Michigan and Minnesota.  On our tour we were very fortunate to continue meeting wonderful new people as well as reconnecting with old friends.  After two quick workshops at For His Glory and Integrity, we headed off to North Branch, Michigan where we held one of our biggest workshops of the tour at Country Christian Church.  During this time we were lucky enough to stay with Laci Yarbrough, (a previous company member) parent's house in North Branch.  After a fun time of reconnecting with the Yarbrough's, we traveled to Jackson, Grand Rapids, and Battle Creek, Michigan where we continued to stay busy performing, holding master classes and workshops. Once we finished up our events in Michigan, we were excited to head off to Minnesota where we reconnected with Alyssa Schneider's (a current company member) family and hometown in Winona, MN.  While in Winona, we performed at Alyssa's old elementary school, St. Stanislaus, as well as traveled a few hours to Woodbury and Coon Rapids, MN to perform at New Life Academy and Coon Rapids EV Free church.  We left the Schneider's house full of homemade bread and cookies and finished our tour with a master class held at MDU in Onalaska, WI.  Exhausted after two and a half weeks of touring, we hit the road for the 15 hour drive back to Colorado Springs.             

Spring Adventures: The Thorn

After finishing up with our very cold but successful tour to Michigan and Minnesota, we jetted off to Fort Worth, Texas to begin our new and exciting adventures with The Thorn Productions.  This was Ballet Emmanuel's first year touring with The Thorn.  We joined a tour team of about 40 other talented and driven people who all worked together to share the message of Jesus Christ using they're individual talents through dancing, martial arts, theatre, acting, aerials, singing, as well as back stage and technical crew work.  While on tour with The Thorn we were fortunate enough to continue working with and meeting new people.  We traveled to Fort Worth, Kansas City, Denver, Sacramento, and finished up the five week tour in Nashville.  Our days were filled with devotionals, rehearsal time, helping set up Thorn merchandise tables, filling thousands of programs, getting our makeup airbrushed, teasing and braiding our hair, performing, and getting to know both the local and touring cast and crew members. We loved getting the opportunity to be apart of a bigger production and tour team and were blessed to have met so many new people.  After the five weeks of flying from city to city, and staying in various hotels, we were all so thankful to finally be back home in Colorado Springs for some much needed rest and relaxation time.

           

We're Back!

We are back in Colorado Springs rehearsing and getting ready for Christmas but here is a flashback from our 2014 Midwest Tour. On tour we were very fortunate to continue meeting wonderful new people as well as reconnect with old friends. After Ballet Emmanuel taught a master class for the dance department at the University of Kansas we traveled Fayetteville, Arkansas where we taught additional master classes with The Art of Motion. After leaving Arkansas, Ballet Emmanuel traveled back to Kansas where we taught a workshop and had the opportunity to hold a concert in Kiowa, Kansas at South Barber High School, where we were joined by Studio Pro Dance who performed a piece to open our concert.

From there we traveled to Wichita, McPherson, Hutchinson, and Salina, performing in church services, at nursing homes and holding more master classes. While in Salina, we celebrated Molly's 23^rd birthday by heading off to the Salina zoo.

Our final stop was to Hesston, Kansas where we enjoyed the chance to return to Hesston College for a chapel performance. Before heading home we had the opportunity to sit down with some faculty and students to chat and grab a quick lunch at the cafeteria. We once again made the drive across Kansas and arrived safely home where we unpacked the vehicle one last time!

We would like to thank everyone for all your prayers and support throughout the tour. We thank God for all He did to keep us safe and for the opportunites we had to share our love for Him and our love for dance.

Little Ballerina Workshop!

We want to invite you to our 2014 Little Ballerina Workshop! 

Coming up on Saturday, September 27th Ballet Emmanuel will be holding its Little Ballerina Workshop for children ages 4-9. The workshop will be held at Turning Pointe School of Dance located at 7667 N. Union Blvd, Colorado Springs, CO 80920.

Ages 4-6
1:00pm-3:00pm
Tuition: $20 per participant (registration due by September 20th)
Early Bird Tuition: $15 (due September 13th)

Ages 7-9
1:00pm-3:30pm
Tuition: $25 per participant (registration due by September 20th)
Early Bird Tuition: $20 (due September 13th

Registration forms and fliers are available on our website (www.balletemmanuel.org)

Help us get the word out, if you know of anyone who might be interested in attending please send them to our website or contact Erin Benson at (719)433-8820 for more information.

We are excited to see what God will do during this year's workshop!

A New Beginning!

While it is always sad to say goodbye to dancers, we love saying hello to new ones! Meet our new apprentices!

Alli Sierra

Alli Sierra is from Aurora, Colorado and began dancing at the age of 3. She studied seriously with Cornell Callender and Andrei Vassiliev at the National Ballet Academy of Denver. Alli spent her summers at intensives with American Ballet Theatre, Walnut Hill, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Joffrey Ballet. She furthered her studies at the University of Kansas (KU), graduating with a B.A. in Dance and a B.A. in Math. During her time at KU, she studied with Jerel Hilding, Patrick Suzeau, Muriel Cohn, James Moreno, and Willie Lenoir. Alli was selected to perform with KU University Dance Company for every concert presented. She was also chosen to work with guest artists Jennifer Hart from Ballet Austin and Autumn Eckman from Gus Giordano Dance Company in Chicago. Alli is very excited to start her first season with Ballet Emmanuel.

Andrew (little brother), Sandy (Mother), Mike (Father), Alli

Molly Jones

Originally from Lincoln, Nebraska, Molly Jones has been dancing since the age of five, training in ballet, contemporary/modern, jazz, and tap. Molly graduated high school from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, majoring in ballet, while also studying other styles. While at UNCSA, Molly trained with, previous American Ballet Theatre principal, Ethan Stiefel, while he held the position of Dean of Dance. As a dance major at the University of Kansas, Molly was awarded the Patricia Joyce Ellis art and dance scholarship. She danced as a company member of the University Dance Company for four years, and performed in every concert presented. Molly was also apart of the honor society at KU and studied pre-physical therapy along with her dance degree in hopes to one day attend physical therapy school and become a physical therapist once she is finished dancing. This will be Molly's first year as an apprentice member dancing with Ballet Emmanuel.

We also asked the girls a few questions:

What are you most excited for in your first year with Ballet Emmanuel?

Alli: I'm most excited for the chance to travel and spread God's message within other communities across America.

Molly: I'm most excited for the traveling and touring across America, as well, as getting the opportunity to dance and share our message with children.

What is your favorite Bible verse?

Alli: "But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you, and guard you from the evil one." 2 Thessalonians 3:3

Molly: "For the happy heart, life is a continual feast, a cheerful look bring joy to the heart." Proverbs 15:15

Alli and Molly have been in Colorado for several weeks now working hard to learn all about Ballet Emmanuel. They have been taking class, learning and rehearsing pieces for our new concert, and getting a crash course on the business aspect of B.E. We are thrilled to have them here with us and are excited to see God work through them in extraordinary ways.



Summer is Here Workshop!

Please Join us for a Ballet Emmanuel Workshop as we celebrate the beginning of Summer!

Register Online at balletemmanuel.com!

Spring has Sprung!

Springs has sprung & we celebrated the warm weather by holding our annual 

Springs Break Dance Workshop!

Over our three day workshop we were blessed to see how God is working in the young dancers of Colorado Springs. The children who attended our workshop spent three days in ballet and modern technique classes, bible studies, and choreography class. At the end they got to showcase the hard work they had done and everything they had learned by performing with Ballet Emmanuel. We thank the Sunrise United Methodist Church and everyone who came out to support Ballet Emmanuel at our concert!