Ballet Arizona has been awarded a generous grant from the Diane & Bruce Halle Foundation to support the Education and Community Engagement programs of the organization, including the community flagship production, Ballet Under the Stars.
Ballet Arizona’s community programs are a crucial part of its mission ensuring that the beauty and joy of dance in Arizona are accessible to all members of the community. These Valley wide programs range from free full-scale performances serving thousands to high-touch deep impact afterschool workshops serving individual students. Programs such as DanceAZ, Class Act and Performance Hour fill the arts education gap in schools, while Ballet Under the Stars provides free ballet performances in parks across the Phoenix metro area for more than 15,000 people annually. The goals are to make ballet easily available to underserved populations by eliminating barriers such as distance, the cost of tickets, or the difficulty of travel. Other engagement programs provide specialized classes for children with neurodiversity, or populations with Parkinson’s Disease. The full list of all the education programs can be found online here.
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“Our arts community has experienced significant setbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In these challenging times, we have to raise our spirits in beauty. The Ballet Under the Stars inspires us to look at the heavens. We are proud to support Ballet Arizona’s Education and Community Engagement programs,” said Diane Halle.
“We are overwhelmed and deeply humbled to receive such a tremendous investment from the Halle Family Foundation for these inspiring programs,” said Ballet Arizona Executive Director, Samantha Turner. “These are not the programs that sell out Symphony Hall, like The Nutcracker. These are the programs that change the lives of young people through the beauty and access to art and inspiration. In the wake of Covid and the devastating impact the performing arts sector experienced, they stepped in with this unbelievable gift – ensuring these free community programs continue. The arts provide respite, joy and hope, and there has never been a time in which that hope is needed more as our communities attempt to recover from the pandemic. Ballet Arizona’s strength and resilience through this crisis is a testament to the commitment from our community members, such as the Halle Foundation and we are forever grateful.”
To learn more about Performance Hour, Student Matinees, Creative Aging, Osher Lifelong Learning, Dance for Parkinson’s or Ballet Under the Stars please visit Balletaz.org/community-engagement. The School of Ballet Arizona offers full curriculum dance training for dancers of all ages: 4-84.
The Halle Foundation has been a generous and ongoing supporter of Ballet Arizona for many years. The organization, headed by Diane Halle, seeks to strengthen the daily opportunities and lifelong outcomes for the people and communities of Arizona.
