Translating Ballet to Daily Life

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The Southwest Virginia Ballet teaches dancers smooth moves off the dance floor, too.

For Pedro Szalay, it is about considerably more than dancing. The director of the Southwest Virginia ballet for the past 18 years obviously loves, dance but his reasoning is far deeper than what you will see on the stage this 34th season.

He directs dancers from a wide variety of ballet schools in the Roanoke Valley and environs in life and how to live it with flair and elegance. “It’s part of their education and it’s free,” he says. The dancers learn a level of etiquette that will serve them professionally. 

They learn makeup, costuming, time management and more. “They learn skills and tools for the professional world,” he says. “We teach values and what they do is important to their futures. Then, they pass it on to the next generation.”

One of the most important lessons for these dancers, he says, “is that they wake up to the value of themselves.”

The company’s schedule for the coming includes quite a few performances, readings, and appearances at community events at events as large as the Berglund Center and as small as libraries. They will perform classic ballets and innovative interpretations.

It is all part of the package for these young people, learning to fit elegantly into the world.

Southwest Virginia Ballet 2024 – 2025 Schedule

  • Sept. 14, 2024: Under the Star with the RSO, Elmwood Park
  • Oct. 19: Taubman Museum
  • Nov. 8-10: Stock Market, Berglund Center
  • Dec. 5: Reading of Nutcracker, Belmont Library
  • Dec. 6: Dickens of a Christmas, Downtown Roanoke
  • Dec. 10: Reading of Nutcracker, Gainsboro Library
  • Dec. 12: Reading of Nutcracker, Williamson Road Library
  • Dec. 13-15: The Nutcracker, Berglund Center
  • Dec. 20-21: The Nutcracker, Homestead Resort
  • Jan. 11, 2025: Dancers Return to Rehearsal
  • March 7-8: Roanoke Arts Pops, Taubman Museum
  • March 18-20: Dance Espanol, City of Roanoke, Berglund Center
  • April 11-12: Under the Tent and Excerpts of Swan Lake, Trinkle State
  • April 26: Auditions for SVB Season 35, Star City School of Ballet
  • May 17: Local Colors, Elmwood Park
  • May 24: Festival in the park, Elmwood Park

See their events, how to get involved and more on their website HERE.