Rejoice Ballet: Opening Doors to So Much More
A letter from our Executive Director, Patricia Cross:
When I opened the doors to Rejoice School of Ballet 18 years ago, my dream was that ballet would be accessible to any student who had the desire to study classical ballet.
As we prepare for our 19th season, I’m thrilled to announce several exciting initiatives and plans that will continue to open doors for our dancers.
In the 2018-2019 season we will:
- Take our original ballet “Saam Psalms: Together Songs” on the road. After performing this ground-breaking work exploring the history of slavery and racism to sold-out crowds, we want to continue this important conversation in our community.
- Stage and perform “Coppelia,” a comedic ballet about a toy shop where dolls come to life. In this February performance several of our dancers will perform en pointe for the first time.
- Send four of our dancers to the Nashville Ballet Summer Intensive on full scholarship and in the fall, we will send our first student to the Nashville Ballet Academy for training on a full scholarship.
- Recognize our most advanced class as the Janesia Young Onyx Class in honor of a long-time Rejoice student who passed away in August. We want honor her 13 years of training at Rejoice and her many contributions to our community.
Today I am asking for your support to help us open the doors to all of these opportunities during our 19th season at Rejoice School of Ballet.
This summer we will hire highly qualified teachers, purchase dancewear and shoes for our students and begin rehearsals for our upcoming performance season.
The tuition provided by our families covers less than 15 percent of our annual budget and we need your help to achieve our mission of training, nurturing and celebrating dancers from diverse backgrounds.
Donate today to help open the door to excellent ballet training, programming focused on health and wellness, diversity and spiritual formation and building a community of artists and friends who respect and love each other in spite of differences.
Through your generosity, you are also opening the doors to so much more in the lives our students.
Our dancers say it best:
“Rejoice is a place where making mistakes is o.k. If you make a mistake you learn to pull through and finish strong.”
“Rejoice is my second home. It’s a place I feel safe and loved.”
“Rejoice is my sanctuary. It’s a whole different world here.”
“Rejoice is a place where I not only learn how to dance, but how to love and respect others.”
“Rejoice is a place to be able to dance and learn without worrying about my parents’ income.”
I want to thank you for every gift you’ve shared with Rejoice and ask that you support us again in the 2018-2019 season. It’s my honor to have a front row seat to how your support is opening doors in the lives of our dancers.
Rejoice Ballet: Opening the Doors to So Much More