Help Sebastian achieve his ballet dream!

Haidee Ryan is organizing this fundraiser.

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Sebastian Ryan

Sebastian’s story

My son, Sebastian, has been dancing since he was 10 years old. His first dances were with Desley Donaldson Ballet Academy in Brisbane
and they ignited a passion inside Sebastian that has never faltered. From that very first moment he has done nothing but live, dream, talk,
sleep, talk, dance, talk, train ballet (did I mention talk???).

Fast forward 8 years and as a result of this obsession with this art/sport, he has been very graciously offered an exclusive and sought-after position at the prestigious Hamburg Ballet John Neumeier Ballet School in Germany, one of the top dance schools in the world. The
teaching he will be receiving there is second to none and it will help him realise his ambition of becoming a professional ballet dancer.
Unfortunately, because of the economic impact of some life events impacting our family as well as the double whammy of COVID-19, we
cannot afford his living and accommodation costs, which means his hard-won place is under threat.

Why is specialist tuition so important?

Ballet is a taught skill that is costly to be trained in, but that has never stopped Bas. Fortunately for Sebastian, he has been offered a
scholarship for the course which is a massive saving in itself (covering the course fees upwards of $20,000 a year). However, the general
costs of living, boarding, health insurance, shoes, uniforms and general upkeep of a ballet dancer is a significant amount on its own.

What is so special about The Hamburg Ballet John Neumeier?

The Hamburg Ballet school is one of the best in the world. It takes dancers and makes them into “stars” who can talk in the language of dance. Competition for one of the few coveted places is fierce. To get even that far is an amazing achievement. In honesty we are still in shock. Every parent thinks their child is special, but here was confirmation from people that Sebastian was an exceptional young dancer.

The costs

I have done some basic calculations and have worked out it will cost approx. $15,000 / year. Meaning $30,000 for the duration of his two-year opportunity. As mentioned above he has a scholarship for the actual course costs, however his savings and mine will fall far short from covering this.

Please help (this is the hard part) I feel very embarrassed asking.....

Sebastian has worked so hard to win a place at the Hamburg Ballet School, and we are so excited for what this means regarding his career trajectory and being able to achieve his dream. I made a promise to this little guy, many years back, that if he would train hard and put in the effort from his end that I would financially support his dream when/ if the time came. Well fast forward through an extremely devastating domestic violence ordeal that shifted our families financial position, mental health, housing and to top it off even had to resign from my employment of 6 years. Our family found itself having to flee into an emergency centre and so much else. I won’t go into further details here as it is not the time or place, but let's just say this boy did not falter, not for one second - despite the horrors that were surrounding our family. So this leaves me in this uncomfortable position I now find myself in.... I promised something to my son all those years ago and through our darkest days, (even when we were homeless at one stage) this boy continued his ballet training and stuck to his end of the deal. Sebastian has saved nearly $3500 towards this dream which will help get the ball rolling, but we need more help to help him afford his
dream and as a single mother I am struggling to find this on my own.

We realise this is a long shot, and we are all hurting right now due to COVID, so we do understand if you can’t, but if you could perhaps do
us a massive favour and share this page. We would be hugely grateful for any donation that would help us make this next step possible.

Please help Bassie fulfil his potential and keep alive the dream of becoming a professional dancer.