BATON ROUGE — The Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre's Youth Ballet is back for another exciting summer season, featuring three performances for audiences across the Baton Rouge area.

This year's production, Ballet Soiree, features a mix of classical ballets, including excerpts from Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and Cinderella. 

Jonna Cox, the Co-Artistic Director of the Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre, said the program hosts 38 dancers between the ages of 10 and 14, with the dancers learning a 30-minute story ballet that's taken on tour around the community.

"We go to all the EBR libraries, we go out to Denham Springs, Livingston, Ascension Parish, Cox said. "We also go to several senior citizen communities and some day camps. We're taking a little bit of the classical ballets of old, so the community's going to see [the classic] long white tutus."

Cox shared why it's important for BRBT to bring these free performances into the community.

"We want to build our audience at an early age. We also want to make ballet more accessible, so that's why we're taking it into some senior citizen communities where people might not have the ability to drive downtown."

Students learn several skills through the youth ballet program, like choreography, spatial relationships and how to count music.

"The other great thing about youth ballet is that they're learning teamwork, adaptability... we're thrilled that we're able to provide this program to our community."

The Ballet Soiree will take place from June 2 to June 10 with free performances scheduled at several local libraries. Click here to find a performance near you.