education & outreach
Ballet Des Moines dancers visit youth audience members in Muscatine, Iowa, during the 2022 Summer STEM Tour.
Ballet Des Moines is a purpose-driven dance company with a mission to enrich lives through inspiring performances, inclusive education and outreach programs, and innovative community partnerships. Ballet Des Moines has established itself as a local innovator and state-wide leader in interdisciplinary learning, redefining the role of the arts in education by wielding creativity as a tool to improve academic outcomes, teach empathy, and build the confidence and curiosity in the next generation of leaders.
All of our programs are built in partnership with organizations and individuals across industries, disciplines, and communities. To our collaborators: thank you for helping us create a world where all people are encouraged to thrive.
Chiyo Nishida and Iowa State Bar Association President Henry Hamilton III during Power & Justice Workshops
WorkshopS & CLASSROOM materials
Creativity is a valuable tool to engage youth and adults in curiosity-led learning activities, introducing concepts, sparking ideas, building confidence, and forging career connections in an accessible and inclusive way. With a robust network of partners, Ballet Des Moines’ workshops, curricula, and classroom materials cover a vast array of subjects and learning objectives, using the lens of movement, music, art, and performance to aid in comprehension, critical thinking, public speaking, team building, and countless other executive function skills.
Workshops take place across the state, in classrooms, auditoriums, libraries, parks, and theaters, meeting our community where they are and ensuring relevance and engagement through authentic collaboration with state-wide educational partners.
Storytelling through the art of dance at Hoyt Sherman Place
Educational Performances
BDM’s Educational Performances engage thousands of students across the state through targeted, engaging on-stage programming that explores the art of storytelling from the stage. Educational Performances are paired with classroom resources to guide meaningful discussions in classrooms and at home.
Consider the Meaningful community art installation by Akwi Nji
panel discussions
Nothing is more inspiring than realizing that artists are just like you! Through curtain talks, panel discussions, interviews, and opportunities to meet the artists, BDM creates opportunities for rich dialogue and transformational interactions with artists on and off the stage.
Ballet Des Moines dancers take a bow during a 2022 Summer STEM Tour performance in Clear Lake, Iowa.
SUMMER STEM TOUR
Every summer, Ballet Des Moines tours the state of Iowa with its Summer STEM tour, partnering with local and state-wide organizations to draw career connections and spark ideas through arts and science.
transforming lives through creativity
An enormous body of research establishes the link between participation in arts programming and markers of success, including reading acquisition and literacy, reduced school drop-out rates, intrinsic motivation, curiosity, confidence, improved empathy and awareness of different people, places, and ideas. On a larger scale, accessible arts programming builds stronger communities, increases civic engagement, drives tourism, and acts as a critical driver behind innovation, and all these effects are measurably stronger in disadvantaged communities. More than free tickets, Ballet Des Moines’ intentional approach to inclusion and access focuses not just on opening doors, but establishing trust-based partnerships with community leaders, educators, and neighborhoods, creating programs that are relevant and resonant across the entire community, and empowering diverse voices to lead.
