Ballet Spartanburg is delighted to have been the recipient of a $7,500 funding grant from the Dizzy Feet Foundation.
The money will be used in Ballet Spartanburg’s outreach efforts during 2014-15 to provide more dance opportunities and education to children, specifically the members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Upstate.
“We are just so thrilled,” said Susan Woodham, dance teacher and Outreach Coordinator at Ballet Spartanburg who applied for and wrote the grant. “Offering dance and dance instruction to children in Spartanburg is a high priority for Ballet Spartanburg. To be recognized and supported by Dizzy Feet certainly adds to Ballet Spartanburg’s professional status on the national stage. Ballet Spartanburg is among the 5 percent chosen to receive a grant from all of the applications that Dizzy Feet received. This money will to enable us to sustain and improve the program at the Boys & Girls Clubs. The children and youth will be able to understand, appreciate, and enjoy dance on a higher and more personal level.”
Ballet Spartanburg has a strong educational outreach program that aids the local community in a variety of ways. Through community outreach, the beauty of dance and the joy of participation are brought to all segments of the Spartanburg community. A few examples of current programs include:
- Partnerships with the Boys & Girls Clubs, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Spartanburg School District 7, and City of Spartanburg.
- Demonstrations at more than two dozen Spartanburg County schools.
- “Peter and the Wolf,” offered free of charge to all Spartanburg County school children from kindergarten through fifth grade. Study guides and grade-level appropriate activities that connect to the classroom curriculum are provided.
- Performances and dance demonstrations to nursing homes, hospitals and rehabilitation facilities.
- Free dance/movement classes for Parkinson ’s disease patients twice a month.
Ballet Spartanburg’s mission is to promote dance appreciation in Spartanburg County and surrounding areas by providing quality dance presentation, education, and outreach. Since 1966 Ballet Spartanburg has enriched lives through the art of dance by presenting national and international dance companies. Today, Ballet Spartanburg is recognized as a regional dance company with an exceptional commitment to education and outreach activities in the Upstate. Ballet Spartanburg has performed at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, at the Koger Center in Columbia, at the Peace Center in Greenville, and in Tryon and Forest City, North Carolina. Ballet Spartanburg is one of eight cultural arts “partner” organizations housed at and funded by Chapman Cultural Center in Spartanburg.
Dizzy Feet Foundation was founded in 2009 by producer Nigel Lythgoe and director Adam Shankman, among others, to support, improve, and increase access to dance education in the United States. Guided by a board representing all aspects of the American dance community, the foundation’s mission is threefold:
- To sponsor, fund, and/or support dance education programs that expose children in low-income areas to the lifelong benefits of dance education through and with local community organizations
- To provide scholarships to talented students studying at accredited or nationally regarded dance schools, studios, or institutions
- In conjunction with recognized credentialing organizations, to support and increase the quality of all styles of dance education in the United States.
Dizzy Feet Foundation (DFF) provides grants to community organizations and other tax-exempt entities in the United States that provide dance education programs to children in low-income areas and disadvantaged communities. Through its grant recipients, DFF seeks to give children the experience of dance, to educate them about the many styles of dance, and to expose them to the lifelong benefits of dance. For more details about Dizzy Feet, please go to www.dizzyfeetfoundation.org.
The mission of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Upstate is to inspire and enable all young people, especially those who need it the most, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible, and caring citizens. The Spartanburg branch has about 2000 participants, reaching about 1000 daily. There are potentially 8000 more students who could be served.
For more information about Ballet Spartanburg and the Dizzy Feet grant, please call Woodham at (864) 921-2507.