SAVE Lovette's BITS, Keep Kids Dancing in Nigeria
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At Lovette's BITS... every foot finds its beat...
Lovette's B.I.T.S Dance company (Bringing It Totally Special) is an organization of Artists offering varying forms of performing arts from dance, theater, music and visual arts. Founded in 2012 by Lovette Otegbola as an independent establishment, the school has grown as a part of other Performing Arts organizations over the past 7 years. Lovette’s BITS Dance Company is located in Lagos, Nigeria serving about 250 students annually, including partnerships with 10 schools from low to middle-class communities. The younger students are there to foster their love of dance and ballet; the adults are there training for free to become dance teachers themselves as a way to earn an income.
As with so many dance studios, Lovette’s studio has been greatly affected by COVID-19. An impact statement from Lovette:
“Classes have been shut down since early March for the safety of the children we teach. We have incurred a bit of debt because our classes fund the payment of our teachers. The funds from our children’s classes provide a large portion of income for the studio to keep it running and we don't want to have to shut it down or lose the studio due to lack of funds. We are also concerned for the welfare of our non-paying adult students to whom we give free classes to groom dance teachers, provide jobs for the youth, and grow dance in Nigeria.”
In order to prioritize student learning and access to classes, Lovette is offering all online classes free of charge for the time being. This means that the studio is not making any income, though they still have operating costs.
It costs about $230 per month to keep the studio running – we are hoping to raise enough funds to cover all operational costs for the next 6 months. All donations will go to help the following:
· Keep the studio running
· Provide continuous online learning to students until it is safe to return to the studios in person
· Offset the rent of the studio space
· Provide power, Internet services, water, cleaning supplies, operational costs
· Pay the teachers a stipend to keep them going
Lovette’s BITS Dance Company partners with Ballet Together (which offers online donation-based dance classes) to further train their students and teachers on best practices in ballet. Lovette Otegbola will be featured as a Guest Artist for Ballet Together and has requested all class donations go to help keep her studio running. This fundraiser is hosted by Ballet Together on behalf of Lovette’s BITS Dance Company.
Lovette's B.I.T.S Dance company (Bringing It Totally Special) is an organization of Artists offering varying forms of performing arts from dance, theater, music and visual arts. Founded in 2012 by Lovette Otegbola as an independent establishment, the school has grown as a part of other Performing Arts organizations over the past 7 years. Lovette’s BITS Dance Company is located in Lagos, Nigeria serving about 250 students annually, including partnerships with 10 schools from low to middle-class communities. The younger students are there to foster their love of dance and ballet; the adults are there training for free to become dance teachers themselves as a way to earn an income.
As with so many dance studios, Lovette’s studio has been greatly affected by COVID-19. An impact statement from Lovette:
“Classes have been shut down since early March for the safety of the children we teach. We have incurred a bit of debt because our classes fund the payment of our teachers. The funds from our children’s classes provide a large portion of income for the studio to keep it running and we don't want to have to shut it down or lose the studio due to lack of funds. We are also concerned for the welfare of our non-paying adult students to whom we give free classes to groom dance teachers, provide jobs for the youth, and grow dance in Nigeria.”
In order to prioritize student learning and access to classes, Lovette is offering all online classes free of charge for the time being. This means that the studio is not making any income, though they still have operating costs.
It costs about $230 per month to keep the studio running – we are hoping to raise enough funds to cover all operational costs for the next 6 months. All donations will go to help the following:
· Keep the studio running
· Provide continuous online learning to students until it is safe to return to the studios in person
· Offset the rent of the studio space
· Provide power, Internet services, water, cleaning supplies, operational costs
· Pay the teachers a stipend to keep them going
Lovette’s BITS Dance Company partners with Ballet Together (which offers online donation-based dance classes) to further train their students and teachers on best practices in ballet. Lovette Otegbola will be featured as a Guest Artist for Ballet Together and has requested all class donations go to help keep her studio running. This fundraiser is hosted by Ballet Together on behalf of Lovette’s BITS Dance Company.
Fundraising team: Ballet Together (2)
Lauren Kirchner
Organizer
Seattle, WA
Bridget Webb
Beneficiary
Ballet Together
Team member
