Dance Training at Ballet Arts Conservatory

Under the direction of Mr. Ali Simpson, The Private Lessons Program at Ballet Arts Conservatory has been designed to meet the needs of students who have taken an interest in the art of dance. The program provides a comprehensive curriculum geared towards dance instruction of the highest quality and performative initiatives geared toward the creative process. His units seek to train beginning through advanced dancers, companies, and competition teams with attention to the whole being. The program has been structured with sole focus on technical proficiency, terminology, building body awareness and dance history. Learning Objectives: • Strengthen the student’s technical abilities and comprehension of terminology and vocabulary • To broaden an understanding of other artforms and its importance within training • To develop physiological comprehension and movement principles • To provide historical knowledge of dance and its derivatives • To maintain a high level of discipline and professionalism • To initiate peer collaboration and respect for other communities • To explore perspectives geared towards work ethic and one’s own responsibility as a pre-professional dance artist Mr. Ali Willingham has a Bachelor's Degree from the University of the Arts and a Masters in Fine Arts degree from Temple University. He is an artistic professional who has been consistently acknowledges by pioneers such as Joan Myers-Brown of Philadanco, Kim Bears-Bailey of the University of and countless others for his teaching directing, teaching and choreographic abilities. As the current Artistic Director of the Ballet Arts Conservatory and former Director of the Contemporary Dance Department at String Theory School, he devises units that creatively explore the points of intersection between performativity and elements of dance education. He implements academic content as a means of suggesting the importance of theory and to help dancers interested in pursuing their own pedagogical practices.