Sixty-seven students from Bermuda, the United States, Colombia and Brazil are currently participating in the National Dance Foundation of Bermuda's (NDFB) annual DanceBermuda summer intensive.

Over the next three weeks, they will train for nine hours a day, five days a week in classes led by master faculty of the American Ballet Theatre of New York, plus Bermudian teachers Sophie Cannonier, Eric Bean, Jr., Michael Watson and Yves Paul.

The dance students will undergo training in ballet, contemporary, Broadway, hip hop, and partnering, plus classes in yoga and Pilates, all of which take place in the Bermuda High School for Girls' dance facilities.

Despite the economic downturn affecting summer dance programmes worldwide, NDFB executive director Maryem Biadillah said registration for DanceBermuda 2009 remained high, something she attributed to a combination of the excellent training the students receive and the financial support the NDFB provides, thanks to the ongoing assistance of corporate and private donors.

In all, 43 Bermudian students are participating in the summer intensive, 15 of whom have received full or partial scholarships and bursaries.

"DanceBermuda, now in its fifth year, is firmly established on the dance calendar as one of the best summer intensives available anywhere," Ms Biadillah said.

"Many of the students attending this year have been with us since the beginning, and it is heart-warming to see the progress they have made. We know we are contributing to their development as dancers, and that we are fulfilling our mission of helping to raise the standard of dance excellence in Bermuda."

The summer intensive will conclude with a workshop production on Friday, August 21, when family, friends, and the community are invited to see for themselves just how much the aspiring dancers have benefitted from working with master teachers from the world-renowned American Ballet Theatre.

For further information/tickets re the workshop production, the NDFB, and DanceBermuda, telephone 236-3319 or visit www.dancebermuda.org