Dear Supporters and Friends of Ballet Northwest,
We hope you are doing well in these interesting times. We are thankful that through lockdowns and limitations on in-person capacity we have been able to keep our dancers dancing and provided three shows for our audiences. We are writing to ask for your continued support to help fund our company to support young dancers. Reduced audiences meant we did not get the revenue we need to support our program this season.
Our accomplishments in the pandemic include:
- August 2020 – Presented Young Choreographers Showcase, along with some pieces that had been recorded in February 2020 from our cancelled Spring performance. This was presented on film at the Skyline Drive-In Theater in Shelton.
- December 2020 – Presented Nutcracker on Film with two showings at the Skyline Drive-In. We also provided streaming for people who could not make it to the drive-in. We were lucky to finish filming the day before gyms, fitness centers, etc. were closed again on November 17.
- May 2021 – Presented Sleeping Beauty on Film with four showings at the Washington Center, at 25% capacity. We also provided live streaming for these shows.
Our dancers stepped up to the challenge of dancing in masks, choreography that was social distanced, filming segments with small groups instead of a full cast, performing without a live audience, and keeping up with the crazy scheduling that required them to pay careful attention to getting to the correct company class (we had five each week instead of two due to capacity restrictions).
Ken and Josie, our amazing artistic directors, had more complexities added including additional classes and rehearsals, scheduling challenges, socially-distanced choreography, and segmented rehearsing and filming that required many more hours than normal productions require. Through it all, they stayed positive, focused, and supportive to the dancers.
Many other performance groups shut down during the pandemic, but Ballet Northwest danced on. Dancers and audiences showed up and appreciated the efforts, but limited capacity greatly reduced ticket sales. Ticket sales, in addition to our fantastic donors and advertisers, allow us to continue to provide quality performances, master classes for our company members, educational outreach to youth, scholarships to aspiring dancers, and free tickets to organizations that share them with low-income community members.
As we end our fiscal year, we find ourselves facing a net income deficit which requires us to dip into our reserves. We have applied for some grants to help, and have received a few, but even if we receive the others in process, we won’t cover our expenses.
Your assistance will help us move into next fiscal year as strong as we were before the pandemic. Our goal is to raise $20,000 by the end of July. Every donation, large or small, adds to our success. We are counting on you to click this link and make your donation today.
Sincerely,
The Ballet Northwest Board of Directors