Youth Division (ages 6–21)

Youth Division: Nurturing excellence

Interested in joining BBT’s Youth Division? Please contact BBT School Manager Jenna Marie at jennam@berkeleyballet.org for more information and to schedule a placement class.

BBT's Youth Division provides dancers with the opportunity to study classical ballet in a disciplined, professional atmosphere that is also supportive of each student's unique talents, passions, and creative voice. Our commitment to offering a rigorous syllabus in an inclusive space, equips students with exceptional training that can launch them into a professional dance career or a lifelong, meaningful connection to ballet. The nurturing, encouraging, and body positive environment at BBT also gives students the confidence and persistence to make an impact in whatever life path they choose. 

Each dancer in BBT’s Youth Division matriculates through the curriculum at a different pace. Unlike academic learning, dancers often progress through their training in a non-linear fashion, experiencing bursts of growth that can be followed by seemingly long periods of plateau in which a deepening of core values is built up to support the dancer’s next leap forward.

Dancers attend classes 2–5 days per week depending on placement. As dancers advance through the levels, they receive additional training in: Pilates, Modern, Pointe, Batterie, Pas de Deux, and Contemporary Choreography. Dancers in the Youth Division have the opportunity to perform in BBT’s annual holiday production of The Nutcracker as well as the Spring Performance Series. Participation is optional and requires additional rehearsal hours.

Dancers accepted into Levels 8 and 9 are invited to enroll in BBT's Studio Company. Dancers accepted into Level 7 are invited to enroll as BBT Studio Company Apprentices.

A dancer’s journey is long and dynamic, but the skills learned along the way will serve students for the rest of their lives. Dedication, inclusiveness, curiosity, community, individuality, and appreciation are all values that BBT holds sacred, and the Faculty’s commitment to these core values enables students to thrive as dancers and as people.

Note that Youth Division dancers in Levels 5–9 study a Pointe Syllabus or Batterie Syllabus, supplementing dancers’ combined Ballet and Modern training with classes in Pre-Pointe/Pointe and Batterie. BBT welcomes each dancer to select their preferred Syllabus; selection need not reflect a dancer’s gender identity. Level-specific Syllabi are cumulative, so BBT asks dancers to be consistent with their selection from Season to Season to avoid falling behind their classmates. We invite dancers who elect to study a Syllabus that does not align with the sex assigned to them at birth to schedule a meeting with the Artistic Staff to discuss their path forward into the larger dance world.