Help The Asheville Ballet Rebuild

Due to Hurricane Helene, the oldest non-profit ballet company in North Carolina, The Asheville Ballet, Ann Dunn director, has sustained severe damage to its building, costumes, and sets. As a part of their dance family since 2010, and having performed in many shows as well as taught classes occasionally at The Asheville Ballet, I can truly say that Asheville wouldn't be the same without this beautiful place. The owner, staff, and dancers know the magic and love that fuels the academy as well as the company. Let us keep the magic going to help The Asheville Ballet rebuild as quickly as possible. All funds will go directly to The Asheville Academy of Ballet and Contemporary Dance and rebuilding efforts.

During this time of year, Nutcracker rehearsals would normally be going on. I would be looking forward to taking my daughter to her 3rd performance of seeing The Asheville Ballet's Nutcracker and I've lost track of how many times I've been. I am so grateful to be a part of this wonderful dance family in any way that I can and hope to continue to be a part of future performances either in the audience or on stage. Please see below for the immediate needs, additional ways of support, and a more in-depth description of the significance of The Asheville Ballet.

Eliza Kellberg

Dancer/Dance Instructor

It's hard to put into words everything that goes into building a dance school and company—how easily it can become your whole world and how gut-wrenching it is to have it taken away so swiftly. Still, it feels difficult to ask for help when there is devastation everywhere in our area.

We are immediately working to rebuild and graciously accept any help people can offer. This year, over a hundred dancers auditioned for The Nutcracker and hopefully the show will still go on. Fortunately, there is no asbestos or standing water, and we provide masks and gloves for all volunteers. The Asheville Academy of Ballet has an amazing staff of fourteen employees and offers twenty-two classes weekly in addition to numerous choreographers working on company rehearsals every week. Each year, The Asheville Ballet presents the following professional productions: Lake Lure Dancing Festival (formerly The Dirty Dancing Festival), Fall Into Dance, The Nutcracker, and Spring Into Dance.

So far, an estimate has been received for replacing the floor and it's only a guess as to what it will cost to replace costumes, teaching and training equipment, speakers, stage props, and sets.

We continue to hope that all of our Asheville Ballet families made it through the disaster safely and anxiously await hearing from you all as cell reception and internet returns. We celebrate every text and email we receive. Stay safe.

Here is a statement from Ann Dunn, Owner and Artistic Director:

I've been Artistic Director of this amazing organization since 1980. We have had setbacks before but nothing like this. We have to completely rebuild much of what was built over the last many decades, and repurchase what has been irrevocably destroyed. I am determined to stage The Nutcracker this year but we need urgent help. Go to our website for more information, The Asheville Ballet.

Thank you and Bless you,

Ann Dunn, artistic director.

For those who are interested in the history of The Asheville Ballet:

Founded in 1964

The Asheville Ballet has a rich history of pedagogy and performance spanning over 60 years. Originally the Fletcher School of Dance, The Asheville Ballet is North Carolina's oldest non-profit regional ballet company. We thrive because we believe strongly that quality arts education and community involvement should take precedence over mass growth and competition, and because we live here year-round, we can perform monthly, weekly, daily, to help fulfill our community’s artistic needs.

In addition to promoting new work and a professional ballet company for the Western North Carolina region, The Asheville Ballet offers an annual lecture series on dance appreciation, in coordination with other local dance presenters, and generates educational articles on dance history and appreciation for national publications and a wide variety of local journals. We have also built a full library of dance-related material.

Our commitment to supporting The Asheville Ballet's professional adult members is evidenced by our challenging and stimulating performances, choreography, and teaching opportunities. ABG continues to nurture the careers of our advanced youth members. Dancers who have worked with ABG have performed with Alvin Ailey, Kirov Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Fort Worth Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Colorado Ballet, Hartford Ballet, Boston Ballet, Geneva Ballet, National Ballet of Cuba, and the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes. ABG dancers have appeared in Broadway musicals, Hollywood films, and have won titles all the way up to Miss America. They have also been accepted at the schools of the New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Juilliard, Boston Ballet, Jose Limon, Paul Taylor, Martha Graham (company apprenticeship), Robert Joffrey (company apprenticeship), and The Dance Conservatory at Purchase.

The Asheville Ballet has created and found funding for scholarships for advanced dancers to pursue professional work in New York and Europe, and for underprivileged children to study dance right here in Asheville. We have worked with Project Steam, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Helpmate, Elida Home, Presbyterian Home for Children, and local churches to locate and encourage new dancers and dance appreciators. Our Tix for Tots program makes hundreds of tickets available to introduce children to the wonders of dance.

At Asheville Ballet Guild, we have built our reputation on a belief that dance plays a vital role in the education and culture of our community. We stand by our mission.

www.ashevilleballet.com