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About Us.
DEP has one mandatory company class per week taught by our artistic director, Kayla Lihardo. Additionally, DEP members are required to enroll in one supplementary dance class a semester after Freshmen Fall with the Duke Dance Department (classical ballet, modern, jazz, etc.)
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In addition to technique classes, DEP members attend weekly rehearsals to prepare for performances. DEP members are also given the opportunity to build their choreography skills through staging dances in any of our four annual productions.
Our Mission
The mission of DEP is to learn, perform, and share ballet, both by creating new works and drawing upon choreography from classical and contemporary repertory. We strive to serve as a bridge between the Duke Dance Program faculty and Duke University’s ballet students by encouraging love for ballet within Duke’s dance community and within the broader Durham community.
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DEP trains and showcases dancers with a strong technical background, develops ballet dancers’ artistry so that they may grow as performers, provides community service performance and teaching opportunities, and allows students to utilize the diverse set of skills required to manage and direct a company beyond a classroom and studio setting.
Our History
Founded in 2013 by Noelani Ho (T'17), Nicolena Farias-Eisner (T'17), Haylee Levin (T'17), and Stephanie Joe (T'16), DEP is committed to fostering a nurturing environment for all ballet dancers at Duke to learn, perform, and share ballet.
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Join Us.
Recruitment is open to dancers from all backgrounds, grade-levels, expertise-levels, and more. Auditions are typically held annually within the first weeks of September and feature a two-hour ballet class with a couple contemporary combinations taught by our artistic director.
DEP Executive Board
Mentorship & Community Outreach
Partnership with Ballet & Books
Peer Mentorship
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The DEP Peer Mentorship Program matches incoming DEP members with experienced second-year DEP members to seamlessly integrate first-years into the DEP community and cultivate a close-knit, supportive atmosphere.
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Members share their intended major, areas of interest, and hometown and are paired accordingly to facilitate mentor matches.
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Ballet & Books is a national non-profit organization striving to close the literacy gap through the hybrid storytelling of dancing and reading. With ten chapters across the nation, Ballet & Books has mentored over 450 children, and the Duke Chapter continues to provide free dance and literacy programming to even more Durham children each semester.
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Devils en Pointe fosters a strong partnership with Ballet & Books, as many of our members volunteer as dance mentors for the organization in the Duke Chapter. Most recently, Durham children from Ballet & Books performed as angels in our 2023 production of The Nutcracker.
Gallery.
Performances.
