City of Angels Ballet

I was watching t.v. yesterday, and I saw a little feature on a ballet company called City of Angels Ballet Company. 

This company is special; ninety-eight percent of its students are on full scholarship.

The reason?

City of Angels Ballet Company is dedicated to providing free ballet training to underserved communities in the city of Los Angeles.



Mario Nugara , founder and artistic director, received his dance training at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet and has danced with the New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, Fort Worth Ballet, American Ballet Company, Eglevsky Ballet, New Jersey Ballet, and the Royal Danish Ballet.

When he arrived in Los Angeles, he noticed that there was little to no diversity of children from ethnic backgrounds in ballet schools.  On the City of Angels Ballet Company website, he states, “My dream was to create a ballet company and academy reflective of our wonderful diverse city that utilizes the untapped talent existing in every community in Los Angeles."

What started as an after-school dance program in an elementary school in a poorer community of L.A. is now a well-established and well-recognized ballet program that provides quality classical ballet training to children who may never get the opportunity.

I thought that this ballet company needed some recognition and deserves to be heard about among the dance community.  Their intent to help children is wonderful and so pure.  I'm sure that anyone who participates in dance is aware of the cost, which includes tuition, clothing, shoes, recitals, costuming, etc.  Ballet can be totally out of reach for some families.

What I really loved about this feature on City of Angels Ballet was the reminder of my own personal story.  When my parents divorced, my mom could no longer afford dance classes, but my dance teacher offered me and my two sisters the opportunity to dance on scholarship at the studio.  I could not be more grateful for that chance.


This amazing ballet company is able to continue running because of donations.  If you're interested in contributing, you can click here for a link to their PayPal donation page.
Click here to get to their homepage.
Click here to watch their videos on YouTube.

 

-Miss Tess

tessc@balletpetite.com