INVITED audiences

Durham Ballet Theatre is pleased to be able to provide free performances of our original full-length ballets for members of the community and their families or caregivers.

For the past 10 years, Durham Ballet Theatre has been able to offer free performances to those members of the Durham community who are typically excluded from access to the arts due to special needs. Our annual “Invited Audiences” performance focuses on those in our community that are disabled, as well as others who are under-served culturally, economically and artistically. In 2019 we invited over 1600 families to attend one of our free performances. Those invited include persons from Genesis Home, Trosa, families associated with The Autism Society of NC, Miracle League and Reality Ministries. These performances are made possible by generous donations and sponsors from within and outside the Durham community.

Steve Sucato describes the experience perfectly in his 2013 article for Dance USA:

“People talk, some children play with handheld objects, while others walk the aisles. When the performance begins, the house lights dim but stay on. During the performance some children clap and sing, others jump up and down and twirl, one child lies down in middle of an aisle. While all this commotion is happening the ushers take little notice, [and] the performers on stage and other patrons don’t seem bothered. No child is looked at quizzically for his or her behavior, told to be quiet, be still, or not to move about the theater. In fact, this behavior, considered taboo during a normal theater going experience, is accepted as ordinary during what are termed “sensory-friendly” or “autism-friendly” live arts performances. In recent years, these special performances, typically child-friendly matinees, are a growing trend in theaters around the nation … “

Lisa Carling, director of Theatre Development Fund’s Accessibility Programs, added to the description in her interview with Sucato:

“It is so important to have these opportunities for families with someone on the autism spectrum. It is so difficult to do the things most of us take for granted — like going to the movies, a restaurant or shopping because of the unpredictable behavior associated with autism and society’s lack of understanding of it.”