Renee Meyer
Founding and Artistic Director at a House Call in Maryland
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... STOP ONE HEART FROM BREAKING ...
Ballet Mobile, Inc. is usually on the road making house calls. Its headquarters is located in Studio 18 of the Howard County Center for the Arts. Its mission is best reflected through Emily Dickinson's poem: If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain; If I can ease one life the aching, Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin Unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain.
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IT'S ALL ABOUT THE PEOPLE WE VISIT
Starting with love, we combine beautiful ballet and music. Then we add group movement, mental imagery activities,
and hearts touching hearts to create unique, lasting experiences that raise people's spirits and improve their physical and mental well-being.
We bring these inspirational programs to persons who
might otherwise be unable to enjoy them. We leave each audience member with a pretty silk flower to help them
access the happy memories they make and remember at
our house calls.
All of us in Ballet Mobile are volunteers - doing what we
love to do and hoping to make a difference.
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Renee Meyer is the Founding and Artistic Director of Ballet Mobile. She creates and directs all Ballet Mobile activities. Her vision is to take ballet out of a dark theater and to
share its healing and restorative powers with those who
may most benefit from them. Ballet curtain calls become
ballet house calls.
Renee integrates what she calls "the three M's: music, movement, and mental imagery" into all Ballet Mobile's programs. She tailors each house call to the specific people who will be there so that everyone has the chance to watch wonderful ballet, journey in their minds to happy, safe times and places, and move with the music and dancers - in their hearts if not with their bodies.
This fall, Renee is taking Ballet Mobile to our Community in another way. Every Wednesday afternoon, she teaches Ballet for Wellness to seniors at Weinberg Village as part of Ballet Mobile's Ballet for Senior Wellness Program.
Angela Walker is Ballet Mobile's Ballet Mistress. Much beloved by all our audiences and dancers, Angela ensures the quality of the dancing and choreographs many wonderful dances for the Company.
The Dancers
Susan Moore
is Ballet Mobile's Principal Artist. A professional ballerina, Susan
has been described as a "living doll with a smile that lights up the
world". Susan is always on the road with Renee, sharing her glorious art
through Ballet Mobile's house calls. Her "Afternoon with a Ballerina" house calls are intimate, delightful experiences that leave everyone smiling.
Like an accordion, Ballet Mobile expands to include a group of professional and pre-professional artists.
Deirdre Stanton Kleinow, Rebecca Gould, and Rebecca Ross are Ballet Mobile's Principal Soloists.
Deirdre Kleinow and Rebecca Gould are Howard County school teachers. Rebecca is an English-as-a-Second Language instructor who is fluent in French. She enjoys leading groups to France and visiting there.
Deirdre is a first grade teacher who also loves to travel. Among her many adventures was a Habitat for Humanity volunteer program to Alaska.
Rebecca Ross is a professionally trained ballerina and scientist. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Rebecca's specialty is Environmental Science.
Robert Glaze, our delightful Uncle Drosselmeyer in our Nutcracker, is a Howard County sixth grade teacher.
Very special young people dance in Ballet Mobile. 10th graders include Gabrielle Corrigan, Erica Farrell, and Jasmine Glaze. Jasmine is our 2014 Clara in our many Nutcrackers. She participates in save-the-planet school programs. Erica has won several local and national leadership and community service awards. Gabrielle loves languages and studied at the Alvin Ailey School in NYC this summer. All three participate in their high school dance programs.
Abby Kallmyer and Brooke Powell are freshmen. Brooke was Ballet Mobile's youngest artist when Ballet Mobile was founded. Abby loves nature and art. Both are state and national honorees in Science, and both have won merit- based academic awards.
8th grader Nia Peterson is on the debate team at school. 7th graders Nina Berkman and Caslin Sisk are full of joy. Nina is a talented athlete as well as dancer, and Caslin loves to visit her grandparents in Maine. 5th grader Lily Coombs is our youngest dancer; she enjoys traveling with her parents and reading.
Other Wonderful Dancers
Soloists Sarah Whiteford, Colleen Kerwin, and Alison Wall dance with us whenever they can. Sarah is a senior at Rider University, majoring in Musical Theater. Colleen, a member of Sacramento Ballet, is a graduate of Indiana University with a degree in Ballet and specialty in Arts Management. Alison is a scientist now working in California.
Zara Anwar, one of our first Ballet Mobile dancers, is a junior at the Baltimore School for the Arts. Jennifer Redil, a graduate of the Baltimore School for the Arts, is a freshman at Adelphi University.
The Roadies
A happy group of volunteer Roadies is led by Robert Stokes, who also assists Renee in the Ballet for Senior Wellness Program. The Roadies make Ballet Mobile's performances possible. From portable ballet floors and barres to silk flowers, the Roadies load, unload, set up, and take down. They visit with the audiences, make the space safe for the dancers, create and distribute flowers to everyone, help with seating, give out programs, and do whatever they can to make the experience as enjoyable and meaningful as possible.
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EXPERIENCE A HOUSE CALL
We believe that every person at a house call should leave
the experience with lighter hearts and happier spirits.
"Nobody sits still if they don't want to," Renee says. "Even
if people can't move physically, they can move in their
minds and hearts. The mind is so powerful. It can take us
to the same positive emotional place that our dancers feel when dancing. So in the end, we all are dancing together."
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BALLET FOR HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
All our programs are tailored to our specific audiences and their preferences. Here is where we have been in the past year. Take a look at our complete schedule.
January, 2014 - North Arundel Health and Rehab, Rock
Spring Village
March, 2014 - Emeritus of Pikesville, Brighton Gardens of Columbia, Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur Villa Julie Residence, Heartlands of Ellicott City
April, 2014 - Morningside of Ellicott City, Edenwald at
Towson, Selborne House of Dorsey Hall
May, 2014 - Girl Scouts Ballet Day at HCCA, Heartlands of Severna Park, Weinberg Village, Sunrise of Columbia,
Brooke Grove, Sunrise of Silver Spring
June, 2014 - Sunrise of Annapolis
July, 2014 - Morningside Ellicott City, Heartlands of Ellicott City, Villa Julie Residence-Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, Brinton Woods at Arlington West, Lighthouse of Ellicott City, Forest Haven
August, 2014 - St. Martin's Home, Weinberg Village, Harmony Hall
September, 2014 - Morningside Ellicott City, Silver Spring Bedford Court, Brighton Gardens, North Arundel Health and Rehab
October, 2014 - Brooke Grove Nursing Center, Forest Haven Nursing Home, Emeritus Pikesville, Atholton High School
November, 2014 - Brinton Woods Arlington West, Mercy Villa Convent, Howard County Center for the Arts, Somerford Place, Rock Spring Village, Brooke Grove, Lighthouse Senior Living, North Arundel Health and Rehab, Heartlands Severna Park
December, 2014 - Harmony Hall, Sunrise of Annapolis, Atholton High School, Morningside of Ellicott City, Heartlands of Ellicott City
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