What is In Grandma’s Attic?
In Grandma’s Attic is a ballet-oriented, fantasy dance program for ages 2–17 offered and created by Deborah Bailay, formerly of The Washington School of the Ballet under the direction of Miss Mary Day. It is designed to nurture a dance student from their early years of Pre-Ballet training through the Intermediate level of ballet. Alongside the training aspects, the program also gives students the look and feel of ballet as a performance art for the stage with use of costumes, headpieces, props, scenery, fairytales or classical ballet stories. By fostering the creative process through play and self-expression, students develop in a wholesome, natural progression while gently being taught ballet. Over the past twenty-two years, In Grandma’s Attic dance program has become an essential part of growing up in New York City!
In the Younger Pre Ballet Classes for Ages 2–6
The students dress up and pretend to be characters in the stories. Storydancing, pre-ballet, creative movement, improvisation, and acting skills are strongly developed within the context of make-believe fun. They will spend a large portion of their formative dance years nurturing their imaginations and love of stories. As they mature to young dancers, they will carry these deeply stored movement experiences with them into their dancing futures!
In the Children’s and Teen’s Division for Ages 7–17
Students progress through a curriculum of ballet training while engaging in a variety of creative ballet vignettes and scenes based on imagery, students’ input, and fun themes relevant to their interests and lives. As they get older, Miss Bailay creates original stories for them which she then produces into full-length story ballets. The love of stories, storydancing and characters-come-to-life experiences in the younger Pre-Ballet classes continues on in a more highly developed mode which challenges the students imaginatively, physically, musically, and intellectually in the Children’s/Teen’s Division. Such original story ballets created include, “The Merry-Go-Round Ballet,” and “The Sleepover Ballet.” These enticing, exciting creations inspire maturing young dancers and become a rallying point for a community of dancers.