May 15, 2013 2 min read Ballet

Covenant Ballet Theater Looking For Funds To Recover From Sandy

cbt dance — Dance scholarship recipient, Mikhail Calliste, and CBTB Artistic Director, Marla Hirokawa. (Photo courtesy of Covenant Ballet Theatre of Brooklyn, Inc., 2010)

The Covenant Ballet Theater of Brooklyn, a non-profit dance academy, needs your help. Needing $19,000 to restore its facilities to pre-Sandy conditions secure a new space, CBT has started a “Fund Anything” donation campaign to raise the money. Here is a description of the problems facing CBT from founder Marla Hirokawa:

Loss of vital funding and the ancillary effects of Hurricane Sandy have brought CBT to a financial crisis. The company has to give up its 3500 sq ft home on 2085 Coney Island Avenue and vacate by May 31st, a month short of our normal program end date. CBT Dance Academy is a small school with a big heart that has been spreading the love of dance in south Brooklyn where artistic, cultural offerings and activities are few. Without a home, CBT cannot continue reaching its diverse and multi-cultural population nor continue in its quest to break the negative male stereotypes in ballet with a tuition-free Boys Program (taught by male instructors). CBT has raised professional dancers. It has created historic ballets that have honored real heroes. It has been a safe and warm place where the pre-professional and recreational student can meet and train. It is a place where the young novice can dance alongside professional dancers in artistically meaningful productions. It is a dancing family to youths, adults and professional dancers. CBT cannot continue without a home.

If you would like to donate to the CBT and keep this proud institution afloat, click here. Based on how much you donate, you could receive gifts including mugs, t-shirts, DVDs and concert tickets. To date, they have already raised over $4,000 and have 84 days left to reach their goal.

Correction (5/17/2013 @ 12:00 p.m.): This article originally indicated that the funding was to restore the group’s space after taking damage from Sandy. That was inaccurate. The funding is to secure a new space altogether, after they are being forced to move due to Sandy-related funding shortfalls.