Opening New Doors
For nearly ten years, The Salvation Army Eagle Creek Corps has offered youth ballet classes to children in the community as one of their incredible character-building programs. However, Dillyn Klemchuck, Youth Ministries Director, started noticing that students began losing interest in the program. “Ballet is very disciplined,” she explained. “The movements are constrained. These kids just needed something to get their wiggles out!” Staff discussed ways to improve their dance offerings and reached out to community partners. Dillyn discovered Butler University’s Movement Exchange, an organization comprised of members of Butler's competitive dance program. “When I found this program, I was so excited!” she explained. “They offer unique instructional courses for nonprofits, which is just what we were searching for.”
At the beginning of the fall semester, Movement Exchange began hosting weekly dance classes at the Eagle Creek Corps. Almost immediately, the staff began noticing changes in the students' interests. “Before, it seemed that kids saw their ballet class like a chore,” said Dillyn. “Now, they often ask if they have to go home when their class ends.” Butler University’s Movement Exchange program offers a wide range of curriculum, bringing in aspects of hip-hop, jazz, and ballet. These new diverse options have opened doors for new students, including the first male that the program has ever seen.
“We have a boy as a part of the dance program now!” shared Dillyn. “He used to come every week to watch his sister’s ballet classes, but never felt like that style of dance was for him. Now, he feels a sense of belonging with our new program.” At the end of the fall semester, the dance students hosted a recital to showcase the choreography they had learned over the past couple of months in front of the corps staff, friends, and family. To end the event, two dance instructors performed pieces from Butler University’s ‘The Nutcracker’. “It’s wonderful that youth can be exposed to the arts, when they may not get that opportunity otherwise,” Dillyn expressed. “It’s powerful that we can do that here, at The Salvation Army.” This spring, the Eagle Creek staff is looking forward to engaging with the students once again, but also seeing new faces come through the door so they can show them what The Salvation Army can do.