The Miami Valley Ballet Theatre Takes Center Stage
It’s a tale as old as time: ballet dancers begin rehearsing, costumes are made and fitted, and then a global pandemic forces the production to shut down until further notice. When the Miami Valley Ballet Theatre (MVBT) began rehearsing for their spring 2020 performance of “Beauty and the Beast” back in 2019, no one could have predicted the impact that a global pandemic would have on performances for the next two years.
Finding balance
Michelle Davis, a Cincinnati transplant who has lived in Hamilton for 25 years, is the Artistic Director and Instructor at MVBT. Davis has seen the dance studio through many phases of growth and development during the last decade.
“MVBT started with 30 students and now we’re at 240,” Davis stated.
The MVBT dance studio space moved from the former Hamilton Journal News Building on Court Street to 175 Market Street during the height of the resurgence of Hamilton in January 2018. Today, the MVBT dance studio encompasses four studios with sprung floors, two dressing rooms, a costume storage room, two restrooms, and a spacious lobby with closed circuit television for parents to observe classes.
The students at MVBT range anywhere from “littles to high school kids.” Registration for classes is placed on a first come, first served basis. Tuition differs by age level, as well as how many classes dancers take per week. Instruction is priced at $50 a month for their youngest dancers and goes up from there. And because MVBT is a non-competition and non-profit studio, there are no auditions required for students.
“We do more than just teach dance,” Davis emphasized. “The goal is not to train professional dancers, but cultivate a love for the arts in our students.”
MVBT has cultivated longstanding community partnerships over the years with Inside Out Art Studio, the Fitton Center for the Creative Arts, and the Boys and Girls Club of Hamilton. Although MVBT has gone through a lot of change since the beginning, the studio has very much remained a family affair at its core.
“My mom makes all the costumes, my daughter teaches, and my sister teaches,” Davis explained.
In addition to Davis and her family members, MVBT is comprised of 10 faculty members who share a passion for dance education and have specialized skills and experience in all dance forms and movement, such as ballet, modern, contemporary, choreography, and yoga.
Davis’ goal for the dance studio, even before the pandemic, has been “to keep everything normal.” Although the recitals had to pause during the pandemic, classes at the dance studio have been able to go on as scheduled.
May 2021 was the MVBT’s first show back in the theatre after a long hiatus due to COVID. “Come Together” was a celebration of The Beatles and being back together on stage in front of an audience. One month prior, MVBT collaborated with the Fitton Center and Pohlman Lanes and Family Entertainment Complex in Hamilton to put on another Beatle-esque performance. “Ballet, Beatles and Bowling” was part of the Fitton Center’s “Outside the Box” series, which brought live performances to non-traditional venues.
En pointe and all-inclusive
When Davis’ own children were students at Ridgeway Elementary School, she asked administrators “Is there anything I can do to bring dance to Ridgeway?”
After receiving the green light from the school, Davis spent eight weeks providing dance instruction to Ridgeway students. During that time, Davis met the parent of a child with autism who explained to Davis that her child was responding to the dance instruction in a way that she hadn’t before with any recreational or educational activity.
This experience inspired Davis to develop the Without Limits dance program in 2014, bringing movement classes to MVBT for adults and youth with disabilities. Beyond building strength and coordination, Without Limits instructors work to boost the self-esteem and confidence of students.
With help from Inside Out Art Studio, adults with disabilities first started attending Without Limits with transportation from Liberty Center, a program of the Butler County Board of Developmental Disabilities. Shortly thereafter, the Youth and Teen Without Limits programs were created to help young students with disabilities explore creative dance to increase strength and flexibility.
Davis and the MVBT faculty consistently receive positive feedback based on their “Everyone can dance” approach to instruction.
“Some of the best things to come out of the program are parents and students coming up to me to thank me, because they had great conversations after being involved in the program,” Davis said.
When asked what is Davis’ biggest takeaway from her role at MVBT, she said “I think now I enjoy the community that dance builds. To feel safe on stage, there has to be a community to truly be in the moment of the movement.”
On with the show
MVBT is ready to take the stage for the long-awaited “Beauty in Beast” in April 2022 at the Fairfield Community Arts Center. There will be eight performances, four shows over two weekends, and tickets can be purchased online, by phone, or in person at the Fairfield Community Arts Center.
The next MVBT event will be two performances scheduled for May 2022 at the Fairfield Community Arts Center. Information about upcoming performances, class schedules, MVBT instructors, and more can be found at mvbtdance.org.