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Bartlesville Civic Ballet will offer a behind the scenes lecture and demonstration to Bartlesville second graders thanks to a donation from the Arvest Foundation.

Arvest Bank local president David Nickel presented the check to Kathy Zervas, the development chairperson of the Bartlesville Civic Ballet board of directors.

Bartlesville Civic Ballet is able to offer this one-and-a-half-hour tour and demonstration on April 10 to all Bartlesville Public Schools second graders thanks to the $2,500 contribution from the Arvest Foundation. Also included will be students from St. John Catholic School, Paths to Independence, home schools and AbilityWorks individuals. This program began more than 15 years ago to give students an opportunity for a demonstration of local talent from dancers of all ages and a look at what it takes to put on a performance.  For some, this will be the first time they have ever been to a ballet or attended an event at The Center, where two performances of "A Minkus Gala" will take place that weekend.

The tour will begin by taking the students into the areas below the stage, to the dressing rooms and into the green room. The demonstration will take place in the auditorium, where the choreography, props and costumes will be explained.  It will feature excerpts from the three ballets included in the weekend performances.  

“The Bartlesville Civic Ballet has a rich history in our community and sets high standards and produces quality ballet performances year after year,” Nickel said.

"We are so grateful to the Arvest Foundation for their support in this project,” Zervas said. “One of the missions of BCB is to educate our audiences and the opportunity for these young people to view this performing art at such a young age will hopefully instill in them an appreciation for the arts in general and in this case, ballet."

The mission of Bartlesville Civic Ballet, Inc. is to promote the appreciation of ballet and other dance forms through education, community outreach and three performances for Bartlesville and surrounding communities.