Features Editor

The ballet is a foreign form of dance for many students in Pike County. However, students in grades K-5 from the Pike County and Troy City school systems came away from the Claudia Crosby Theatre Tuesday with a better understanding and deeper appreciation of the art form.

Two performances by the

Alabama Ballet Company of Birmingham were scheduled as the second of three fine arts opportunities made possible through the partnership among Troy State University, the Pike County School System, the Alabama Council on the Arts and Humanities and Sikorsky Support Services, Inc. and a separate partnership between the Troy City School System and the Troy Council on the Arts and Humanities.

David Dye, professor in the TSU department of speech and theater, said there is no way to put a value on a fine arts experience such as the one presented Tuesday by the ballet company.

"This is a unique experience for many of the children who were in the audience today," Dye said. "And, it was an enriching experience. Fine arts programs introduce different languages to the students and different pathways of learning."

Dye said, according to national studies, students who have four years of experience in fine arts programs do much better on standardized tests than those who do not.

Fine arts programs help students to feel better about themselves in general and help them to do better in their school work.