KC Ballet South Campus Ribbon Cutting

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Dancers of all ages can learn new skills at the newly expanded KC Ballet South Campus at Meadowbrook.

The new $2.1 million facility doubles the number of studios and expands the footprint from 3,400 square feet to nearly 12,000 square feet.

South Campus at Meadowbrook Principal Taryn Ouellette said, “I want it to be a space where people come in and feel at home and feel a sense of belonging and purpose.”

KC Ballet Executive Director David Gray adds, “It is our mission to serve dance in many ways so we’re going to be offering classes from ballet all the way to adaptive dance and everything in between.”

They can expand programming for their community, offering classes for older adults and more advanced academy students. They look forward to inviting people across all age groups and all abilities.

Children as young as two years old can enroll and some kiddos had their first class in the building Friday morning following the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The number of studios is doubled from just two to now four at Meadowbrook. Gray said they had at most 225 students in the old studios upstairs pre-pandemic, so the goal is to double that number too.

“In theory, we could get to 450 and maybe more because we might be able to offer more classes during the day -- for example, adult classes and things,” he said.

Some of those “things” could also be including more classes for individuals with disabilities that would prohibit them from dancing. Sensory overload adjustments, cables, wires, anything that can help those individuals that want to be able to dance.

Dancing can be a simple exercise and movement to improve cognitive awareness. It can be for those also looking to grow their skills in hopes of making it a career.

“It teaches so many things besides just positions and technique, it also I think helps develop really responsible human beings. Just the way we interact in the classroom, I think lends itself well to how we all interact outside of the studio as well,” said Ouellette.

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