Dance schools across the world have struggled to make it to the stage this past year with the pandemic’s damper on typical performances. For classical dance students, performances and showcases are their biggest events – a culmination of a year’s work.
In a year of so many unknowns, En Pointe Indiana Ballet has pivoted again and again to keep students dancing and to help the show go on safely.
En Pointe’s Artistic Directors Pollyana Ribeiro and Robert Moore stand under the marquee. (Photo provided)
The latest pivot is taking the Noblesville-based dance school to the big screen at Tipton’s historic Diana Theatre for Curiosity The Movie, an original performance inspired by Cirque du Soleil.
“Exactly a year ago, we were figuring out how to tackle virtual classes and find ballet barre stand-ins for home,” said Co-Artistic Director Robert Moore. “Then came our small socially distant summer showcase on the studio lawn and our signature holiday performance bumped up to mid-November on the last warm weekend with an outdoor stage built in under 24 hours. To say it’s been a challenging 365 days would be putting it mildly. We didn’t want to disappoint our students and families by not being able to bring to life our annual original performance, Curiosity, but we also desire to keep everyone safe. It was amazing ah-ha moment when our team came up with the idea to safely film the performance in sections at Noblesville’s historic Mill Top building, produce a movie and offer several showings at a local family-owned theater.”
Curiosity is a jazz inspired piece set in the romantic Victorian era where science and the Industrial Revolution were new and fantastical. The original piece is En Pointe’s own take on the peculiar fantasy world of steampunk science fiction and showcases all genres of dance including modern, contemporary, jazz, tap, and hip hop.
Curiosity The Movie premiered on Tuesday with a special red carpet event. Additional showings will take place on April 18, 19 and 20. Tickets are available at enpointe.yapsody.com.
About En Pointe Indiana Ballet
En Pointe Indiana Ballet is a classical ballet school offering high-quality training to students ages three to 22. As a Central Indiana dance studio, En Pointe serves Noblesville, Fishers, Carmel, Westfield, Geist, Zionsville and the surrounding areas’ dance students. Additionally, En Pointe is proud to have pre-professional dancers from the across the globe study with the studio, and prominent guest instructors visit annually.