About FAMILY & COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
Through public and private funding, the community engagement initiative of Nashville Ballet strives to expose children, teens, and adults to the artistry, beauty, and athleticism of dance, by providing unique dance experiences that cultivate an interest in the art form of ballet.
Nashville Ballet offers entertaining, informative and interactive family programming and activities throughout Middle Tennessee—many free of charge! Thanks to the generosity of public and private donations, Nashville Ballet is able to reach over 30,000 children, teens and adults through our family and community programs. Each year, we strive to cultivate unique community partnerships with educational institutions, arts venues, and social service organizations across the state in order to provide the highest degree of dance education in our community.
Performances at the Nashville Public Library and Branch Libraries
Check the Nashville Public Library Calendar for dates when we will host free performances of our touring ballets. We also host story time events at Metro Nashville local branch libraries throughout the season. Contact your local library to see when a performance is headed to your branch!
Check our Upcoming Events page to see when we will be performing at a library near you!
For more info on Teaching Artists and Arts Integration, click here.
A “Head start” on Dance: Jump, Frog, Jump
Performances for Pre-k and kindergarten audiences - February 5-9 and 12-16, 2024
Nashville Ballet partners with the Metro Action Commission in Middle Tennessee to expose all Head Start Center children to a live performance and ballet experience annually. Head Start students who are 3 years old have an opportunity to experience a story time event at their Center location; 4-year-old Head Start students take an exciting field trip to the Nashville Ballet studios where they experience the exciting children’s ballet Jump, Frog, Jump.
Based on the popular children's book of the same name by Robert Kalan, this exciting tale of a frog and friends retraces from the beginning each time a new character is added: "This is the snake that dropped from a branch and swallowed the fish that swam after the frog that was under the fly that climbed out of the water- How did the frog get away? Jump Frog Jump!" This energetic and humorous ballet is completely narrated and incorporates children from the audience as they instruct the frog to jump for his safety! The repetitive dialogue of the story helps to build important memory skills, while the art of dance, drama and visual art "bring science to life" with lessons on bugs, reptiles and other pond creatures.
For more info on Teaching Artists and Arts Integration, click here.
Community tickets
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, Nashville Ballet is able to distribute free tickets to social service agencies (serving economically under-resourced populations) and the communities they serve. Contact Senior Manager of Community Engagement Briona Richardson at brichardson@nashvilleballet.com or (615) 297-2966 x111 in November for the December performances of Nashville's Nutcracker.
For community tickets to all other performances, please apply using the form below and a member of Nashville Ballet’s staff will reach out to you.
ACCESSIBILITY
Nashville Ballet is committed to making its programming and activities accessible and welcoming to all. Our staff is always available to answer questions and provide additional information on accessibility.
Nashville Ballet proudly partners with the Inclusion Network of Nashville.