ABOUT ALL AMERICAN BALLET

Our Mission Statement

All American Ballet School & Company (AAB) is a fully non-profit corporation that offers:

• The best in classical ballet training for our community’s young dancers,
• High quality classical and neoclassical ballet performances to the public,
• Educational programs for students in public and private schools and the larger community,
• Outreach in the community to increase involvement with and appreciation of classical ballet and related disciplines as a fine art form, and
• Partnerships with community organizations in the advancement of the arts.
  

Who We Are

As a non-profit corporation, All American Ballet operates a teaching center of ballet with teachers of the highest-caliber training and professional background, led by founder Clarissa Boeriu, teacher and choreographer without peer in the region. AAB’s students are taught the highest standards of classical technique, integrity and professionalism, while being cultivated qualities of self-confidence, style, artistic expression and enjoyment and love of ballet. AAB allows for student participation of all ages, levels and reasons for studying ballet, including goals of seeking a career in dance, performing on stage, artistic expression, disciplined exercise, self-improvement and the pure enjoyment of dance. AAB is committed to the production of high quality classical and neoclassical ballet performances for the enjoyment and enrichment of the community. AAB’s productions emphasize the participation of our students, supplemented by professional guest artists, with the end goals of developing dancer talent and increasing the public’s appreciation of ballet as an art form. AAB’s education efforts extend to providing ballet performances and instruction to public and private schools; providing scholarships to ballet students based on merit and need; and engaging in outreach to involve students from communities or families that might not otherwise have exposure to ballet.

What Makes AAB Unique

All American Ballet has an uncompromising commitment to excellence in arts education, based in the Russian-originated and world-acclaimed Vaganova method (see below) of classical ballet technique. The School has a faculty of outstanding teachers trained in the Vaganova technique. The teaching faculty leader is Company founder and principal teacher, Clarissa Boeriu, widely recognized as a ballet teacher and choreographer of incomparable skill and accomplishment in the region. Mrs. Boeriu is Romanian-born and trained with an illustrious background that includes a Master’s Degree in Philosophy/Pedagogy from the Babes-Bolyai University; Romania, faculty teacher for the National School of Arts in Romania; teacher/coach for “Scuola di Ballo dell’ Teatro dell’Opera”, the official School of the Rome Opera House, Italy; and guest school and company teacher/coach for Ballet San Jose. The quality of a ballet school’s teaching is proven in large part by the number of students who receive summer scholarships, awards, and career acceptances from major ballet companies and universities. Unmatched in the region, Mrs. Boeriu, in six short years, has led AAB in producing 30 students who have received more than 100 scholarships and career acceptances. All American Ballet is the only company in the region that owns and operates a ballet school as a non-profit organization.

Vaganova Technique

The Vaganova ballet technique is named after possibly the most renowned ballet teacher of all time, Agrippina Vaganova, artistic director of the Kirov Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia, who cultivated her technique in the early 20th century. Prof. Vaganova outlined her methods in a book entitled "Basic Principals of Classical Ballet" in 1934 that started a new period in the Russian Ballet instruction. She unified the experience of generations and offered a clear and concise system of teaching and performing the entire "alphabet" of classical dance. The Russian School has precise technique, a strictly academic style and simple, restrained and soft movements free of superficial effects. The strictness of style does not limit or constrain the dancer's individuality, but on the contrary, allows for the fullest and deepest opportunity to reveal creative abilities. One of the most important traits of the Russian School of Classical Dance is the development of independent artists. It also determines the character of the creative activity, not only in the theater, but also in the school and in its teachers.