Outreach - Dance Theatre of Pennsylvania

Dear Friends of Dance Theatre of Pennsylvania,

This is how the dream begins: A three-year-old puts on green tights and skips across the stage as an Elf in the opening scene of The Nutcracker. She graduates to Angel, Junior Soldier and BonBon. Next is the thrill of performing as one of the children in the Party Scene, before moving up to the corps de ballet in Snow and Waltz of the Flowers.

From the youngest to the oldest, our dancers share a passion for ballet and no other pre-professional company in our area provides them with as rich an experience. The members of Dance Theatre perform with some of the most acclaimed artists in ballet, including alumnus Christopher Budzynski, currently a principal with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, and his wife and fellow principal, Alexandra Kochis. Our dancers have experienced having original pieces created for them by such celebrated choreographers as Matthew Neenan, co-director of Philadelphia’s BalletX, and Jason Hartley of the Trey McIntyre Project.

For young dancers, these are extraordinary

opportunities to explore dance. The experience propels many of them to careers in dance, or to dance programs at elite universities. Think of it this way: It would be as if your daughter on the soccer squad got to scrimmage with Mia Hamm; or if your son in Little League got pitching tips from Cole Hamels. At Dance Theatre, our members receive training from major-league dancers, including former Pennsylvania Ballet members Tara Keating, Meredith Rainey, Chris Jones and Heidi Cruz.

Dance Theatre is excellence and the pillars of our program are our dancers, artistic staff, volunteers and patrons.

We could not provide all of this without your constant support and to build Dance Theatre for a strong future, we are asking for your help. To stage such high-caliber productions requires additional funds. We are a non-profit organization run by volunteers. We run a tight ship, but we need to raise money to upgrade our sets and add to our costume collection. Our goal is to raise $25,000 in the next year. We invite you to join our Ballet Society as a special patron of Dance Theatre of Pennsylvania. With your donations, we can continue to grow as an organization. Dance Theatre offers audiences in Bucks and Montgomery counties a ballet experience that could rival downtown productions. Our dancers, too, easily match the commitment and athleticism of student athletes in soccer or track – on top of that, they are artists using the stage and music as their canvas.

Please help us to achieve our financial goal. We invite you to share this note with your own friends and family.

And when you do, think of that tiny Elf or the soloist in Waltz of the Flowers.

Dance Theatre of Pennsylvania is where her dream begins.