It takes $50,000 to put a child through ballet training for ten years.

The Louisville Ballet Company is helping some families with the cost through their program called Ballet Bound.

We sat down with them on the first night of their class to see what it's all about.

Ballet Bound was really created to provide access to the world of ballet and really create a pathway for training for students to be able to find a career in dance.

So we're just now starting our fifth year of the program.

The first part is actually the community program, and that's where we find 20 new dancers every year, ages 7 to 9 to come and study with us one day a week at our Louisville Ballet downtown studios.

And we're really just giving those students their ballet training and really understanding what the art form is and giving them sort of ballet basics during that first year.

And after the end of that year, we're able to select five students to provide a full scholarship that will take them from age 7 to 9, which is when they start the program all the way up to a senior in high school.

We usually kick off the year with giving all of the students who were admitted into the program an opportunity to join us at Shakespeare and Dance, which is Louisville Ballet's annual participation with Kentucky Shakespeare and Central Park, where we do free performances for the community for a whole week.

So they do get a performance opportunity before they even take their first class with us.

The first time I saw these children gathering at our Main Street studio for class and the parents watching through our large bay window that looks into the studio, they stand there through the entire class because this is an opportunity that they would not have otherwise had for their children and to know that we're creating access.

And we truly believe that dance is for everybody and we want to make that happen.

When I was in first grade, this flier went around in the paper to sign up and my mom set me up.

I think it's a great thing for boys to do because not many boys do a lot of ballet.

They take a basic traditional classical ballet class.

They learn the basics of ballet, and then from there they can really decide if they want to pursue potentially a professional career in ballet.

Regardless, the benefits of taking a ballet class are so great.

We have fun, but it is a pretty serious learning environment too.

So we have really high expectations for the students.

But we also get there through really fun activities and helping them learn and the best way.

We're really just trying to help students achieve their dreams.

We're hoping to build their self-confidence, you know, their kinesthetic awareness in general, you know, be more confident in how they move through the world.

You know, it teaches you self-discipline.

It teaches you, you know, how to work hard and really try to attain a certain goal.

And, you know, ballet has so many things that it teaches you beyond the steps.