CityDance Instructor Mia Whitehead (second row, far right) and Level II students modeling costumes for Stars and Stripes Forever! in a recent rehearsal.

CityDance, an afterschool dance program the USA International Ballet Competition provides for Jackson Public School students, will present its end-of-the year recital at 6 p.m. Friday, May 17, at Bitsy Irby Visual Arts Center at Belhaven University. Admission is free.

“CityDance is one way the USA IBC brings ballet to students who otherwise may not have an opportunity to experience it, expanding the appreciation and audience for classical dance,” said Sue Lobrano, USA IBC executive director. “The annual spring recital is always an evening of tremendous pride for these students and their parents and grandparents.”

CityDance participants are selected through auditions of students between 7 and 10 years of age at the beginning of the school year. USA IBC provides the students dancewear, shoes and twice-a-week classes at the downtown Jackson Mississippi Arts Center. Mia Whitehead, a member of Belhaven’s dance department, is the instructor. There is no charge to participate in the program, but parents must agree to transport their children to the Arts Center, arrive on time and notify the instructor if the child cannot be present. The  Mississippi Arts Commission, Greater Jackson Arts Council, Jazzy Dancer, Mr. and Mrs. Dick Molpus, The Charles Sumner Bird Charitable Foundation and other donors contribute support to the program.

For more information about CityDance, call (601) 355-9853. Audition dates for next year’s CityDance program will be announced through the Jackson Public Schools as the 2013-2014 school year begins.