Atlanta Ballet Centre after-school pilot program exposes East Point youth to dance and performance art

Atlanta Ballet's Diane Caroll directs Briar Hills Elementary students as they warm up for the school's after-school ballet program. (DorMiya Vance/WABE)

Inside East Point’s Briar Hills Elementary School, the small gym has a glossy hardwood floor and the growing pitter-patter of young feet as the school’s after-school ballet program starts.

The newly built school is piloting an after-school ballet program in partnership with Fulton County Schools and the Atlanta Ballet Centre.

Atlanta Ballet’s Diane Caroll stands before Briar Hills Elementary students as they warm up for the school’s after-school ballet program. (DorMiya Vance/WABE)

“I joined by accident. I thought it said it had like jazz instruments,” said fourth grader Jayceon Stewart, the only boy in the dance group.