Improve your fitness, strength, and flexibility with adult ballet in a fun, supportive, and community-focused setting—no tutu required! Whether you're brand new, returning after a break, or looking for a local alternative to city studios with city parking, we have a class for you! With multiple levels and schedules, our professionally trained instructors help you build technique, prevent injury, and enjoy the many physical and mental benefits of ballet. You will also get the opportunity to build community and friendships in a healthy and welcoming environment. Ballet 2 Specifics: This intermediate-level class is perfect for dancers with experience in both barre and basic center work (such as balancé, pas de bourrée, piqué, basic pirouettes, and small jumps). You will have completed Ballet 1 to take this class. Build on your foundation with more complex steps, varied arm positions, and challenging combinations designed to improve strength, coordination, and artistry. Receive personal corrections to help you improve your technique and prevent injury. Ideal for adults and teens returning to ballet or looking to refine skills in a supportive, noncompetitive environment. Join in person, online via Zoom, or mix and match! Questions? Contact the instructor at kabirkner2020@gmail.com. Why take ballet? Here are some of our favorite benefits: Increased balance, strength, mobility, coordination, and flexibility Improve cardio, core strength and posture/alignment Reduce risk of Alzheimer's and dementia Stress reduction Injury and pain prevention “Putting your hand on the barre makes the rest of the world melt away”, also known as escape and you time! Perfect for helping you keep an active (and social) lifestyle! Kaethe Birkner: Kaethe is a professional ballet dancer and certified Pilates instructor through Balanced Body, with ten years of experience teaching ballet, Pilates, and stretching classes, and eight years of personal training. Her passion for ballet began at age two, followed by a love for Pilates during her ballet training. Kaethe integrates her expertise in ballet, Pilates, and physical therapy into her teaching, focusing on proper technique, injury prevention, and alignment. She tailors each class to the individual and group needs of her students, emphasizing hands-on corrections to engage both major and minor muscles. Kaethe aims to provide fun, full-body workouts that prioritize technique and safety. This is a hybrid class so you can attend in person or join online via Zoom or a mixture of both. Meet Kaethe here: Kaethe Please read our Adult Programming Overview page for all info regarding registration, cancellation, and building info. Adult Programs - Edina Community Ed (edinaschools.org) Registration for all class sessions closes 3 days before the start date. Late Registration: If you miss the deadline but are still interested, you can contact the Community Ed office. Space may be limited, but we'll try our best to accommodate late registrations. Email: communityed@edinaschools.orgPhone: (952) 848-3952

An all-level Mat Pilates class that is a full-body, low-impact workout that will make your muscles long and lean. Designed to help you live your best life, this class focuses on injury prevention, pain reduction, and working smart. In true Pilates style, it helps students create balance between smaller, underused muscles and the bigger muscles by learning to relax the overused, larger muscles and engage the smaller muscles. It also teaches the how and why of the exercises, body awareness, body mechanics, and efficiency in motion. This is mainly a strength-building class with some stretching. This is a hybrid class so you can attend in person, join online via Zoom, or a combination of both! Meet Kaethe here: Kaethe Please read our Adult Programming Overview page for all info regarding registration, cancellation, and building info. Adult Programs - Edina Community Ed (edinaschools.org) Registration for all class sessions closes 3 days before the start date. Late Registration: If you miss the deadline but are still interested, you can contact the Community Ed office. Space may be limited, but we'll try our best to accommodate late registrations. Email: communityed@edinaschools.orgPhone: (952) 848-3952

Join us for this unforgettable experience with an amazing ballet classic! Whether you have taken ballet classes or you just love an evening out at the theater, you will enjoy this special opportunity created just for Edina Community Ed participants! Join us for an evening with Continental Ballet Company to watch their production of Giselle and receive a private talk to learn more about the ballet, the company and what it takes to put on such a production. As a bonus, you will get to see our very own ballet instructor, Kaethe Birkner, in her return to the stage, as she will be performing in this production! This event is for ages 10 and up. All youth must come with an adult. If you have questions, please email our ballet instructor Kaethe Birkner at kabirkner2020@gmail.com. Ballet Appreciation #1 : Giselle – Performance + Talk Bloomington Arts Center - Saturday, March 14, 2026 from 6:15pm to 9:30pm This performance will include a talk before the show. Your tickets to the show will be given to you when you sign-in for the talk. Please note, you will need to arrive at the theater, located in Bloomington, by 6:15pm. More details will be emailed out to participants closer to the show date. Please be sure the email you have on file with us is current. You must sign up by 2/27/26. If you wish to sign up past this date, please contact Edina Community Ed to see if it is possible. About Giselle: Full of ghosts and romance, this ballet tells the story of Giselle, a peasant girl who falls in love with a nobleman, Albrecht, thinking he is a peasant. Hilarion, another villager, is also in love with Giselle and he is jealous of her love for Albrecht. Albrecht is also engaged to a noble lady named Bathilde. Hilarion finds out Albrecht’s secret and tells the village that Albrecht is a nobleman and betrothed to someone else. When Albrecht’s true identity and engagement is revealed and Giselle learns they cannot be together, she dances herself to death because of her weak, and now broken, heart. After her death, Giselle becomes a Willis. Willis, led by their queen Myrtha, are all unmarried women who were scorned or betrayed by their lovers in life. They take revenge in the night on any man wondering the woods by making him dance himself to death. Hilarion goes to mourn at Giselle’s grave and is caught by the Willis and dies. Albrecht also goes to Giselle’s grave and is caught by the Willis. Albrecht and Giselle plead with Myrtha to spare him. Myrtha will not. Still, Giselle’s love protects Albrecht so he dances til dawn but doesn’t die. At dawn the Willis fade with the night, leaving Giselle, now freed from their power of vengeance and hate, saying goodbye to her love who is safe. This ballet is to the ballet world rather what Hamlet is to the theater world: a traditional classic that stands the test of time and is a recognizable name with a tragic story line that is performed all over the world by companies great and small. This is a Romantic-era ballet, which are known for their long, white tutus and stories filled with ghosts or other supernatural beings. A true classic that you will not want to miss! About Continental Ballet Company: Continental Ballet Company has been performing ballets from the classical repertoire for thirty-seven years. Under the direction of Founder, Riet Velthuisen, the company rehearses daily in their studio at the Bloomington Center for the Arts. Riet is originally from Holland where she danced professionally with several European companies including the Dutch National Ballet. CBC dancers are contracted each season and this year we welcome dancers from the Twin Cities, New York, Florida and Switzerland. They are all adult professionals with a minimum of seven years of training. The company is committed to providing enriching, entertaining and educational programs that advance the art of classical ballet and encourage community engagement. __________________________________________________________ Please read our Adult Programming Overview page for all info regarding registration, cancellation, and building info. Adult Programs - Edina Community Ed (edinaschools.org) Registration for all class sessions closes 3 days before the start date. Late Registration: If you miss the deadline but are still interested, you can contact the Community Ed office. Space may be limited, but we'll try our best to accommodate late registrations. Email: communityed@edinaschools.orgPhone: (952) 848-3952

Join us for one or two unforgettable experiences: watching an original ballet based on a beloved story! Whether you have taken ballet classes or you just love an evening out at the theater, you will enjoy this special opportunity created just for Edina Community Ed participants! Join our ballet instructor, Kaethe Birkner, for an evening or afternoon with Ballet Co. Laboratory to watch rehearsals of their production of Mary Poppins along with a behind the scenes opportunity at each offering. These events are for ages 10 and up. All youth must come with an adult. Please read through the descriptions carefully to ensure you choose the event that works best for you, your family, or your group. If you have questions, please email our ballet instructor Kaethe Birkner at kabirkner2020@gmail.com. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Ballet Appreciation #1: Mary Poppins – In-Studio Rehearsal + Dancer Q&A Ballet Co. Laboratory, St. Paul - Friday, May 1, 2026 from 1pm to 3pm This rare opportunity will allow you to see an in-studio rehearsal for Mary Poppins only two weeks before it will be on stage. You will have a chance to see where the dancers rehearse everyday and get an up-close look at the rehearsal process. You will also be able to ask the dancers questions with a Q&A! This option will be held at Ballet Co. Laboratory’s studio in St. Paul. More details will be emailed out to participants closer to the show date. Please be sure the email you have on file with us is current. For option 1, you must sign up by 4/27/26. If you wish to sign up past this date, please contact Edina Community Ed to see if it is possible. Ballet Appreciation #2: Mary Poppins – Dress Rehearsal + Backstage Tour E.M. Pearson Theater at Concordia University, St Paul - Wednesday, May 13, 2026 from 5pm to 8pm Come and watch the dress rehearsal for the show Mary Poppins! Held in the theater, you will get to see first hand the work it takes to move a show from the studio to the stage and you’ll be the first to see the production onstage! Participants will also be given a backstage tour of the theater! Please note you must arrive by 5pm at E.M. Pearson Theater at Concordia University. More details will be emailed out to participants closer to the show date. Please be sure the email you have on file with us is current. For option 2, you must sign up by 5/6/26. If you wish to sign up past this date, please contact Edina Community Ed to see if it is possible. About Mary Poppins: Mary Poppins will sweep you into a world where anything can happen—blending unforgettable characters, dazzling choreography, and a dash of theatrical magic. Join us for a spoonful of sugar sure to stir your soul and set your imagination free. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ About Ballet Co. Laboratory: Ballet Co. Laboratory is Minnesota’s largest professional ballet company and school. Based in Saint Paul and established in 2018, they empower creativity while engaging communities in new ways of thinking, learning, and moving. Ballet Co.Laboratory is nationally recognized for challenging ballet’s “traditions that exclude” by reimagining how ballet is taught, created, and presented. __________________________________________________________ Please read our Adult Programming Overview page for all info regarding registration, cancellation, and building info. Adult Programs - Edina Community Ed (edinaschools.org) Registration for all class sessions closes 3 days before the start date. Late Registration: If you miss the deadline but are still interested, you can contact the Community Ed office. Space may be limited, but we'll try our best to accommodate late registrations. Email: communityed@edinaschools.orgPhone: (952) 848-3952