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JUNE 2020

People have said that I have been too silent, that I need to use my platform to stand up for the racial injustices in ballet and so on… It has been an exhausting war on social media and I am not going to defend myself. I have been a champion for dancers of color since the beginning of this blog and have provided scholarships and financial assistance to over 10 dancers of color who could not afford to dance. But in this intense, and much-needed reform in dance, there is a lot of information circulating around. There are those dancers of color speaking out about their experiences in companies, there are white women championing for race and throwing virtual bricks at every company under the sun, and there are those who are ignoring the problem.

Truth: This past month has been overwhelming for me. Emotionally the toll it took on me was devastating. 

But, through this pain, anxiety and depression, A Ballet Education has been able to produce five amazing scholarships.

Our first program is for dancers of color ages 7-11 in the Arizona area. If you can not afford to dance, but would like to, this program is completely free for families who can not afford ballet. This program is offered through the Ballet Clinic. No questions asked.

Our second program is also through The Ballet Clinic, the ballet school that we own. This second scholarship program offers 3 full-tuition scholarships in each of our names. This program was introduced in August of 2019. Ashley Baker, Eric Hipolito Jr. and I were all scholarship kids in dance and want to give back. Click here.

The Third scholarship program is for dancers who are ages 12-14 and can not afford tuition. Through this program we offer a sliding scale tuition based on taxes. 

The fourth program is open to anyone. We will be offering give $1,000 scholarships for dancers who are looking for financial assistance. Details will be announced at the end of July. This program is funded through the sales of A Ballet Education’s Planners.

Our final scholarship program is for dancers of color who show exceptional potential and need professional mentoring, career advice, and preparing for auditions. This fellowship program helps you curate your resume, audition videos, photos, and more. This program is completely free. 

Additionally, we have been offering talks on ZOOM and Instagram Live. Our next talk is tomorrow, Monday, June 22 @ 4:00 PM PST. You can join us on Zoom or Instagram Live here.

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A Ballet Education Scholarship

A Ballet Education has committed/pledged to raise $27,000 dollars in scholarship funds for various organizations including the YAGP Korea, Burbank Dance Academy, the Cirio Collective & helping support kids with the financial aid to attend Summer Intensives and the YAGP. This crowdfunding initiative is to help support the art form that I love with all my heart. This year has been a devastating year for many, as ballet companies and schools are losing money and not giving out as many scholarships as usual. The costs of ballet are skyrocketing and the need to support the ballet is more important, now more than ever. 

For the 2018-2019 Season
YAGP KOREA through the Hee Seo Foundation $3,000
Burbank Dance Academy $1,000
YAGP FINALS FUNDS $10,000
SUMMER INTENSIVE FUNDS $13,000

How am I going to fundraise $27,000 for all these kids/dancers? Simple. All of the proceeds from my books, artwork, and magazine will now be going towards helping dancers across the world. I have been watching, listening, and hearing kids across the world struggle financially at their home studios and then when they are offered the chance to be seen, or have a career, or attend a summer intensive that could actually make their career… they can’t even afford the chance to go. It was hard to watch kids struggling this year at YAGP finals with the costs of everything. Numerous times, I had let kids hop into my UBER or LYFT because I knew it was going to cost them $15 dollars when we were all going to the same place… 

Why am I always helping YAGP KOREA? Because, for these young men, it is important to place at a ballet competition. If they don’t place, they will have to serve two years to the army at the age of 19. Their training will  stop completely, and the odds of them ever returning to ballet are slim. Read more here.

Why am I helping Burbank Dance Academy? Because I have seen, worked in, and observed the intensities of the Los Angeles Ballet Community, and I believe this school under Jason Coosner is creating a healthy and positive presence in the Los Angeles Ballet Community that is desperately needed. 

Think about it this way… 

If you buy 1 grande Starbucks espresso drink a day, that is $1,825 dollars a year- if you just cut back to 5 coffees a week, and donate the rest you would be donating $520 dollars a year. That is a plane ticket for a kid to attend finals, or attend a summer intensive on scholarship. It might be the last amount needed to attend for a student to attend a year round school. That’s 6 pairs of pointe shoes you could be helping a student receive. If you were to not go out and eat once a month, you would be able to donate $1,200. That is almost a full summer intensive fee. It is 12 pairs of pointe shoes. It is the cost of the hotel for YAGP finals. 

How can you help support? Subscribe to the magazine.
Or if you would like to donate, feel free to by clicking here.

Do you need a scholarship? Applications for scholarships will open in December 2018.

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Redlands Dance Theatre

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Redlands Dance Theatre is a non profit organization dedicated to the arts in the Inland Empire. Your contribution, no matter the size, provides Redlands Dance Theatre the means to further the arts in our community.  Redlands Dance Theatre provides 8 full year round scholarships to Dancing Images Dance Center for under privileged children.  The company provides exceptional performances for our community, and gives Inland Empire dancers a chance to grow and further their art form.

Unfortunately, employing ballet dancers does not come as an easy task.  Redlands Dance Theatre goes through about 8 pairs of pointe shoes a week, running about $650. To finance our 2015-2016 season, Redlands Dance Theatre is looking to raise approximately $25,000 to support our dancers, students, performances, costuming, and other miscellaneous expenses.  

www.RedlandsDanceTheatre.org

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ONE YEAR: a Ballet Education

celebrating 1 year

I can’t believe this blog has survived a year.
Ballet at a glance in a year:
Misty Copeland and Stella Abrera became the first of their respective ethnicities to ever become principals at American Ballet.
The Cirio Collective was born.
Shin-Yong Kim won the YAGP at 14.
NYCB made the front page of the NYT, above the crease.
HUFF Post published a beautiful retrospect of ballet.
We said goodbye to numerous influential ballet dancers as they retired from their respective companies: Wendy Whelan, Carla Korbes, Julie Kent, Sylvie Guillem, Paloma Herrera, Xiomara Reyes, Carlos Acosta, Auralie Dupont.
Patricia McBride — Kennedy Center Honoree
Misty Coepland, a ballet dancer made the cover of TIME magazine.
Royal Ballet still continues to annoy me, though Marcelino Sambé has been promoted to soloist.
Ballet San Jose changed their name.
Of the companies to look out for, only one really did well this season… Which is sad.
My company, Redlands Dance Theatre started rehearsals.
Dance still continues to expand through Social Media.
A Ballet Education financed Jessy Gonazalez to attend LA Ballet’s Summer Program.
A Ballet Education provided 32 pairs of pointe shoes to students around the US.
a ballet education worldwide

A Ballet Education has received over 13,000 hate e-mails, 1 Million Impressions, 800,000 unique visitors, and is read in 172 countries.
gay asian male ballet dancer sex
As I spend my 4th of July at the Beach, I wanted to say thank you for everything.
It has been a crazy year. Now, onto Fashion Week. I will try to keep updating, but my focus is going to be on gearing up for premiering at Fashion Week. Stay Tuned and get quick updates via our mailing list and Facebook.