Volé rehearsals are a flurry of pointe shoes and last-minute costume decisions, warm-up plies and Beatles songs. The student-organized ballet club has been preparing for this weekend's performance -- "Ballet to the Beatles and Sleeping Beauty Excerpts" -- since early January and is ready to show Penn State that ballet is anything but boring.

"For this performance we wanted to make ballet more accessible to the college audience," said Volé administrative president Jennifer Ellis.

"Ballet is actually pretty cool to watch because ballerinas can do some pretty awesome things, but people associate a dull stigma with ballet. We thought doing ballet to the Beatles would be a great way to liven up ballet and appeal more to our audience."

Members of Volé choreographed the 10 Beatles pieces and chose the dancers to perform them, said publicity chair Lauren Kirk. The Sleeping Beauty excerpts -- from the prologue and Act III -- are re-staged from a video.

Because "in Volé there are people who have never danced and people who have danced forever," Kirk (sophomore-advertising) said dancers were chosen for parts according to their strengths and the demands of the pieces.

"Some of the Beatles pieces are more jazzy," said president of performance Jackie Sturgeon, "and others more lyrical, but all have a grounding in classical ballet."

Volé treasurer Nicole Klemick added, "I think this performance is a good combination to do because it combines classical ballet with more modern ballet and a variety of people can enjoy it. Many people don't like classical ballet, but combined with fun songs like the Beatles', they can hopefully get a better appreciation of it."

But Volé is about more than performing. It's also an opportunity for dancers of any level to balance ballet classes with a college workload.

Ellis (junior-English) and Sturgeon (junior-materials science and engineering) started the club last year for Penn State students who didn't want the demands of a downtown studio -- which used to be the only option for non-dance majors.

When I came to Penn State, I was excited about continuing my involvement in ballet," said Ellis.

"I really wanted a program on campus that I could go to when I had the time, take a good class and not pay a lot for it. It seemed that starting a club was the perfect answer.

"(Jackie and I) wanted it to be something where people could take class, teach class, perform or be involved in choreography, artistic direction or any other aspect of the dance world," she added.

"I think we provide that. Most of our members are people who have danced for a long time and want to continue in college but not on as serious a level as going to a dance school requires."

Volé classes are taught by more advanced members, said Sturgeon, and scheduled almost every day in the White Building studio.

Though members are assigned to a certain level in placement class, they're welcome in any level class.

"The classes are like those in any other ballet school," she said. "I think we tend to be fairly professional and still have fun." And all the members, she added, "just love ballet."

For more about Volé, visit www.clubs.psu.edu/psuballet.