BYU’s Summer Ballet Workshop Directed by Alums and Husband Wife Team Alex Marshall Hatch and Ryan Hatch
Multiple generations of dancers were brought together this past July as two alumni welcomed 60 middle and high school students to BYU for its Summer Ballet Workshop. Directed by BYU alumni couple Ryan Hatch and Alex Marshall Hatch, the workshop allowed the students to expand their ballet knowledge and skills in an elevated setting under the direction of professional dancers.
“Our goal with bringing the BYU Ballet Summer Workshop back for the first time since 2019 was to give middle and high school students a preview of the BYU experience,” said Hatch (’20). “We want to instill BYU’s mission of lifelong learning in these young students and teach them how it goes hand in hand with ballet.”
On the first day of the camp, the 60 students attended a placement class, where they are split into groups based upon age, level and skill. The workshop consisted of 35 total hours of dance and included classes for ballet, contemporary, pointe, variation, character dance and acting, all culminating in a final showcase.
Marshall (’23), who taught pointe classes daily at the workshop, emphasized her desire to foster a joyful attitude towards ballet. “Ballet is my passion and the lens I see the world through so whenever I teach, I try to pass on that love for ballet to the students,” she said. “I’ve noticed that some students don’t enjoy ballet because it can seem boring or rigid. My goal is to make it fun for them and to show them how much joy and freedom can be had in the studio and on stage.”
The Hatch’s recognize the value of the spiritual connections to ballet that BYU provides in the studio and strive to pass them on to the younger generation. “We really wanted these students to see how in ballet and in life we are striving for perfection but only through the gospel of Jesus Christ can we achieve greatness,” said Hatch.
Many faculty in the ballet area begin classes with a short devotional, often focusing on the students’ divine worth. “It can be hard for students to separate our worth and identity from being a dancer because they put so much love and time into it,” said Marshall. “At BYU, we try to help them understand that they are more than just dancers and that their divine worth can influence them as dancers, rather than the other way around.”
Marshall and Hatch, who now both dance professionally for Utah Metropolitan Ballet, also danced on BYU’s Theatre Ballet company as undergraduate students. “The BYU Department of Dance taught me that with Heavenly Father’s timing and hard work my dreams are possible,” said Hatch. “As a student I had a lot of incredible opportunities to perform dream roles and work with incredible teachers which prepared me to enter the professional ballet world.”
The rigor of the Summer Ballet Workshop mirrors that of BYU Theatre Ballet, giving the youth a chance to experience a schedule more intense than most of them would get on a regular basis. “The dancers are expected to come in everyday and work hard, even if they are tired,” said Marshall. “They are learning multiple pieces of choreography at a time which can be challenging.”
In the concluding showcase for parents at the end of the week, the students shared what they learned by performing both character and contemporary pieces as well as an excerpt from “Swan Lake.”
In February 2025, high school juniors and seniors can attend the BYU Ballet High School Workshop Day, where they can take classes from BYU students, observe Theatre Ballet company class and attend the “Giselle” performance by Theatre Ballet.
“We hope that one day these students will be able to attend BYU and feel like they are coming home,” said Hatch.
