Excellence in the Performing Arts – Development of the Professional Dancer

Program description

Rochester has been named the 17th most arts-vibrant city in the country by the National Center for Arts Research. With live music, dance and theater available daily, and with world-renowned teaching institutes, Rochester is truly a world-class city for the performing arts and arts education.

How does Rochester achieve this level of Arts Excellence? Join us to hear about, and see live demonstrations, of what it takes to develop the talent and perseverance needed to become a professional performing artist. Jamey Leverett, Artistic Director at Rochester’s Draper Center for Dance Education, will be joined by several of her current and former students to discuss and demonstrate the education and training process for aspiring dancers.

In her prepared remarks, Ms. Leverett will share insights on how she judges and provides feedback to her students, and how she measures overall success of the school. She will also share some notable results: the large number of professional dancers that have graduated from the school, and the amazing shows and companies that feature local Rochester dancers.

The program will include dance demonstrations throughout, and conclude with a live dance performance followed by time for questions and answers.

Speaker bio

Jamey Leverett is the Artistic Director at the Draper Center for Dance Education, the affiliated school of the Rochester City Ballet. Ms. Leverett received her principal training directly from Timothy Draper, founder of the Rochester City Ballet. As a dancer with RCB, she performed major roles in Mr. Draper’s Nutcracker, and danced the lead role in his Firebird, choreographed specifically for her.

After Mr. Draper’s untimely death in 2003, Ms. Leverett assumed the reins of Artistic Director for both the Draper Center and the Rochester City Ballet. Together with Katherine Ertsgaard, she has overseen the growth of the company from a small regional organization to a distinguished, nationally acclaimed dance training and ballet school. Ms. Leverett has also been a lecturer in the Dance Department at SUNY Brockport, and currently teaches Master Classes throughout the United States.

Join us for this free webinar

Date:  Wednesday, May 22

Time:  12:00 - 1:00 pm

Cost:  Free to GRQC members and non-members

Registration:  Click below to register.  Please use a currently supported browser; registration may not work with some older browsers.

If you require special accommodation, please let us know by Monday, May 13.

Please direct questions to events@grqc.org.

Greater Rochester Quality Council events, programs and initiatives are supported in part by the Greater Rochester Chamber Foundation.