Company: Ordway Conservatory of Classical Ballet, Manassas, VA
Company Description: Ordway Conservatory of Classical Ballet is a dance studio in Northern Virginia. Ordway Conservatory's mission is to provide a world class ballet education in a safe and nurturing environment focused entirely on its students ensuring that each dancer feels confident, accomplished, and beautiful while developing exceptional dance, health and leadership skills.
Nomination Category: Company/Organization Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Company of the Year – Business Services – 10 or Less Employees
 Nomination Title: Ordway Conservatory of Classical Ballet
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes, explaining the achievements since July 1, 2021 of the nominated organization, OR written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video. If you are submitting written answers to the questions for this category, provide them in the appropriate spaces below:
- Briefly describe the nominated organization: history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 200 words used.
Ordway Conservatory of Classical Ballet is a preprofessional ballet school located in Virginia. It was founded in 2018 by former principal ballerina, Sara Ordway, and has grown from 40 to 200 students. OCCB’s mission is to ensure that each dancer feels confident, accomplished, and beautiful while developing exceptional dance, health, and leadership skills. We are creating outstanding dancers and outstanding people through our anti-bullying and confidence boosting programs and events. All our classes begin with working our empathy and self-confidence muscles. Our dancers excel in our community and at their schools by using the skills we teach alongside proper ballet technique.
OCCB presents three professional level performances for our local community each year. Audience sizes average 700 attendees per show. Due to our creative shows, such as An Interactive Nutcracker, we draw an audience far beyond the normal ballet goers.
OCCB’s 5 person staff is made up entirely of women who are constantly given training opportunities to continually be up to date and the best they can be in our field. There is a clear career path within OCCB, and we are very much a unified team focused on the growth of our staff and the growth of our students.
- Outline the organization's achievements since July 1 2021 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 249 words used.
Since July of 2021 OCCB has:
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- Offered staff multiple teaching and business trainings throughout the year.
- Continued to reach new audiences with unique and entertaining shows.
- Created new engaging community events such as a Parent/Child Dance that introduce ballet and dance to new people.
We are most proud of how our productions have grown since 2021. We have always performed exciting ballets such as Alice in Wonderland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but what our audiences are most excited about is our interactive shows.
An Interactive Nutcracker debuted in 2018, allowing audience children to join our dancers onstage and see the magic up close. [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION]
In early 2023, we debut Game On: An Interactive Video Game Ballet. This ballet reached a broader audience than we had ever seen before. One young boy was heard in the audience asking if he could see the show again the next day. We get a thrill from making people realize that they DO like ballet. That it IS for them. That art and ballet is for everyone. Game On had an audience size 25% larger than any we'd had before [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION]. But we are most proud of how many people who never thought they'd enjoy a ballet loved interacting with us.
- Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 174 words used.
Video on how we create our shows: a behind the scenes video of how our Artistic Director creates our unique shows. Showing how our performances speak to a wider audience than the average ballet.
Game On Press: press release about Game On. Showing how unique our productions are.
Article on our dancers excelling at competition: our dancers find success in the dance community and excell at a national ballet competition. Showing how we are creating fantastic artists and people every day.
OCCB Wins Best of Manassas: press release about OCCB's win. Showing how we are recognized by our community.
An Interactive Nutcracker Press: An Interactive Nutcracker press release. Showing how our shows are unique and appealing to a broad audience.
IMG_4136: a short clip of one of the interactive portions of Game On. Showing how magical our shows really are and what a large crowd we draw.
Ord23Recital_p_1457f.jpg: an image from our final curtain call at our 2023 recital showcase. Showing how we are able to pack the stage with so many students.
- Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the organization's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 248 words used.
In the aftermath of the pandemic, hundreds of dance studio have been closing their doors. Since 2021, four dance studios in our local area shut down due to low enrollment. Capturing a child's attention is harder than ever before now that we are competing against other activies and screen time. While many other studios' numbers are dwindling, OCCB's student numbers have been growing steadily.
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We offer our staff a greater sense of community than other dance studios. We have monthly and weekly staff meetings and work from our unique OCCB ballet syllabus. [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION]
There is a stigma around ballet that says it's only for certain people. We are breaking that down and showing our community how fun ballet is. How is for everyone and the ways it can make life better.
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