Zaichaer Academy of Ballet & Pfenning Theater
A massive stone construction located in the West End of Zaichaer, the Zaichaer Academy of Ballet and Pfenning Theater is impossible to miss. The theater itself seats 2,200 people, and the entire building consists of four stories at its highest point, with countless instruction rooms and rehearsal spaces as well as facilities for set and costume creation.
While the Greater Institute of Zaichaer's College of the Arts also holds classes in dance, the Zaichaer Ballet Academy specializes in it. A seemingly ancient institution, the academy itself is known throughout Karnor as a leading school of choreography. The academy features an intensive eight year program that starts at the age of 8. Children enrolled in this program receive formal schooling in history, music, math, and literacy, as well as ballet instruction. It also features classes for adults in other dance forms and classes for younger children. Operating in tandem with the Pfenning Theater, many graduates of the intensive program go on to join the Pfenning Ballet and perform locally. Notably, and historically, it accepts applicants and auditions of all races.
Though the school, theater, and ballet company all manage to have their origins in pre-Sundering Zaichaer, it was only about fifty years ago that they changed leadership. Purchased for a great sum of money by the Johannson family, there came little interruption in the public functionality and operations for years after, and the change of hands largely faded from the public eye. Eventually, renovations were made to the imposing building that formed the school, and foreign performances again began showing in the Pfenning Theater where it had held only Zaichaeri acts since the Sundering.
Secretly, the operations of the theater, school, and even the ballet company are used as one mundane front for the Railrunners' smuggling operations. This fact is known to only a few even in the Johannson family, who facilitated the transition in the first place. Some of the renovations rendered parts of of the theater accessible only to those who possess the Cardinal Rune of Traversion, and the building serves as a space where business mundane and magical is able to intersect. The Railrunners at the Pfenning Theater specialize in getting people, especially mages, in and out of Zaichaer. However, as it is still a legitimate business run in the city, magic use is strictly forbidden from any sort of performance, and any actions which may cause untoward attention to the theater results in swift action taken by the Railrunners.
Cost of Tuition & Shows
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