Education Outreach

Alabama Dance Theatre’s goal is to train and educate students in the disciplined art of dance and to educate and develop the future audience for dance in central Alabama. In addition to its public performances at the Davis Theatre for the Performing Arts, ADT hosts a number of educational activities in the community which serve to build our audience and enhance the cultural life of our city.

ADT’s special school performances at the Davis Theatre target economically disadvantaged students, the physically challenged and the elderly. These performances, which have reached more than 52,000 students to date, include intermission chats with the Artistic Director and guest artists as well as education packets to help teachers prepare their classes for their performance experience. The education packet, based on the Alabama Course of Study, includes sections on audience manners, music and composers, synopses of the ballets to be performed and general information about dance. One hundred percent of participating teachers have rated these special school programs as good to excellent.

Additional components of ADT’s Education Outreach Program include:
  • South Central Alabama Girl Scouts badge program and a ticket endowment program providing tickets for many deserving community groups.
  • M.O.V.E. (Men On the Verge of Excellence), a collaboration with the Alabama Department of Youth Services and Montgomery County Juvenile Court Services. Through this program, ADT provides at-risk male youth who have been sentenced to serve at Davis Treatment Program the opportunity to learn the art of dance, and to introduce the positive alternatives and opportunities available to them through the art form (i.e., dancing, choreographing, teaching, production management, etc.).

Each aspect of ADT’s Education Outreach Program serves to enrich lives in our community and provide wholesome alternatives to at risk youth, while broadening our audience base and educating future audiences.