Incoming 4th graders from Tuttle Elementary School will be introduced today to Dance for a Future, a program created by the Sarasota Cuban Ballet School (SCBS) to provide opportunities for low-income students to experience the benefits of a dance education and contemplate the possibility of professional dance career. SCBS instructors and dancers will show all incoming fourth graders the barre and floor sections of a typical ballet class, after which Tuttle students will be invited to try some of the dance steps and positions. A Q&A session with SCBS Founder Ariel Serrano will follow.

Beginning in Fall 2019, students selected to Dance for a Future will receive two and a half hours of dance class, two afternoons a week, free of charge at the Sarasota Cuban Ballet School. Transportation from Tuttle Elementary to the SCBS studios and snacks will be provided, as well as all the dance shoes and apparel needed for classes and performances. Those who demonstrate a commitment to studying dance and stay with the program for the two years will be offered scholarships to join the SCBS Pre-professional Program.

Funded primarily by the Leslie and Margaret Weller Fund of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, the pilot year of this program will begin with the class demonstration at Tuttle Elementary School. The long-term goal is to expand the program so students from all Title I Schools in Sarasota County may have the chance to dance for their future.

Sarasota Cuban Ballet School