The Sarasota Cuban Ballet School (SCBS) is delighted to announce that we have been approved for a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA.) The funding will support the upcoming July 31st On Stage live performance. This will be SCBS’s first major performance since the COVID-19 crisis started.
The annual performance marks the culmination of the 6-week Summer Intensive program. Participants come from as nearby as Sarasota and as far away as Japan. The pre professionals train and perform with guest artists from professional companies, many of them former SCBS students. The On Stage gala performance will include variations from well-known classics and original contemporary works. “As the country and the arts sector begin to imagine returning to a post-pandemic world, the National Endowment for the Arts is proud to announce funding that will help arts organizations such as the Sarasota Cuban Ballet School reengage fully with partners and audiences,” said NEA Acting Chairman Ann Eilers. “Although the arts have sustained many during the pandemic, the chance to gather with one another and share arts experiences is its own necessity and pleasure.”“We are very grateful to be honored with this grant, said Ariel Serrano, co-founder, and artistic director of SCBS. “Our pre-professional students have worked very hard to improve their craft. Because of the pandemic, we could not hold this showcase event last summer, and we are thrilled to be able to present it again this year. The NEA grant helps to make this possible.” The performance will take place on July 31st at the Manatee Performing Arts Center. Tickets are on sale at the Manatee Performing Arts Center Box Office and on-line. The Box Office telephone number 941 748-5875. The address is 502 Third Avenue West in Bradenton. Tickets can be purchased on line at https://tickets.flculturalgroup.org/TheatreManager/1/online?performance=6188 |
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About The Sarasota Cuban Ballet School
SCBS was founded in 2011 by the Cuban-born husband and wife team of Ariel Serrano and Wilmian Hernandez. They trained at the elite Escuela Nacional de Ballet de Cuba and performed internationally. In 1993, they moved to Sarasota to join the Sarasota Ballet, where they danced as principals. Co-Artistic Directors of SCBS, they offer classes at all levels for students from age three to adults, but the heart of the School’s program is a rigorous training course to prepare talented, serious young dancers for professional careers. Students of SCBS have won numerous awards in international ballet competitions, and have gone on to perform with companies such as the Royal Ballet (UK), Birmingham Ballet (UK) Dance Theater of Harlem, State Street Ballet, Ballet San Antonio, Milwaukee Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Sarasota Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Ballet West, Houston Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Miami City Ballet.