This coming Tuesday, students from the Sarasota Ballet’s Margaret Barbieri Conservatory of Dance will take to a new stage with a special visit to the young patients at All Children’s Hospital. Under the direction of Sarasota Ballet Education Director Dex Honea and Outreach Coordinator Sara Sardelli, the dancers will conduct a performance for the children, before inviting the children to join them.

Community outreach has long been a part of the Sarasota Ballet’s mission, including the continually expanding education program for disadvantaged youth, Dance-The Next Generation, and a similar visit to All Children’s Hospital two years prior.

"We are thrilled to be returning to All Children’s Hospital with our students,” said Sardelli. “The children from the hospital still talk about the event so obviously it had a tremendous impact."

And it’s not only the children who remember and its not only the children who benefit.

“One of my most memorable experiences was my visit and performance at All Children’s Hospital,” said former Conservatory student Olivia Ratner. Performing was fun, she said, but watching the children perform was a different sort of rewarding. “I know that they were going through a lot, but for a moment they let themselves dance and maybe forget why they were there,” said Ratner. “This experience has always stayed with me.”

“It is a wonderful opportunity,” said Sardelli. “I imagine that the experience will be rewarding for both All Children’s Hospital and The Sarasota Ballet.”