Regional Ballets Do Their Part to Involve People With Special Needs in the Art

A group of regional ballets in the Western United States are doing their part for people with special needs by involving them in various aspects of the art.

Both Yuma, Arizona's Arizona Classical Ballet and San Diego's California Ballet work within their local communities to provide unique arts opportunities for all ballet fans.

Today, Arizona Classical Ballet debuts a staging of Alice in Wonderland that highlights a trio of performers with special needs. Until Saturday, June 25, the production at Yuma's Historic Yuma Theatre involves all 65 dancers of the troupe including three who have cerebral palsy.

Erika Farrar-Bowen, owner and artist director of the company, described to the Yuma Sun the preparations she makes with the performers:

“Basically what we’ve been working on with the girls that have the wheelchairs is we do a lot of physical therapy,” Farrar-Bowen said. “We do just a lot of isolated exercises to music and they get to pick out their own music. We also do a lot of strengthening because their bodies are pretty weak. We work on their legs and we work on their upper body.”

California Ballet showcases an autism-friendly version of The Nutcracker in an effort to make ballet more accessible. The company's "Sharing the Art" program has freely provided over 35,000 tickets for showgoers over the years. The San-Diego Union Tribune reports on the ballet's respectable endeavors:

“Many theaters already do autism-friendly productions, like the Old Globe locally for its Grinch shows,” Diane Grosman, marketing director and ticketing services manager for California Ballet, said Monday. “It’s relatively new in the business of ballet.”

For more information on these great ballet companies and their performances, please visit their websites at www.arizonaclassicalballet.com and www.californiaballet.org.

Below, listen to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a.

We want to hear from you! Let us know what you think of Arizona Classical Ballet and California Ballet's honorable contributions to their local arts scenes in the comments section.

TagsArizona Classical Ballet, California Ballet