A Ballet for Raffaella

Morris Performing Arts Center

June 29-30, 2024

South Bend Indiana

What can we do to honor our darling princess Raffaella Maria Stroik? She was in love with people, with God and with ballet. In this video she shares her belief that ballet is a way to share love and joy . Raffaella was living her dream, dancing with the St. Louis Ballet and making many friends, when her life was tragically cut short November 14, 2018. She was only 23 years old. 

In Raffaella's memory, we have commissioned an original ballet based on her story. Inspired by the masterpieces of Tchaikovsky and others as well as the choreography of Petipa and Balanchine the ballet is a fairytale for all ages. It seeks to embody Raffaella's motto "Beauty will save the world."

The funds are needed for:

Dancer stipends

Symphony orchestra stipends

Designing and constructing the stage sets

Creating the costumes

Promoting the ballet 

Raffaella's father, Duncan Stroik, who will be the Executive producer, is being advised in this endeavor by nationally known dancers and musicians. With major funding we have hired the composer Prof. Michael Kurek of Vanderbilt University and the choreographer Claire Kretszchmar from New York City Ballet. Gabrielle Stroik Johnson who is an architect will be designing the sets. Grazie and thank you for helping make "Raffaella" the ballet, a true work of art.

Donations to the ballet are tax deductible. The Raffaella Ballet , Inc. is a public charity with tax exempt status under section 501 c 3 of the IRS. Effective Nov. 27, 2019.