Popular appreciation for dance seems to be rising, with the proliferation of television dance competitions and a renewed interest in social dancing.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like this popular fascination extends to classical ballet yet. But this weekend, the Texas Ballet Theater hopes that the public will move beyond hip-hop and tango to embrace a tradition that needs help to survive.

The Texas Ballet Theater must raise $1.5 million in pledges and $500,000 in cash to meet its budget by September 10. The Dallas Morning News said that part of the company’s shortfall resulted from the loss of a donor who had regularly contributed $1 million annually. But, donations have fallen overall, and it’s not possible to raise ticket prices enough to cover the entire budget.

Get Behind Your Ballet

The Get Behind Your Ballet fund-raising campaign, which begins this weekend, represents

Get Behind Your Ballet

• On Friday, September 5, the Texas Ballet Theater will perform at 6:00pm and 7:00pm at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Performances will include two excerpts from the ballet’s Majestic Gala show scheduled for September 12. Although this event isn’t officially part of the Get Behind Your Ballet campaign, it is a good opportunity to support the company.
• On Saturday, September 6, the company will hold a fund-raising sale at the studios of the Texas Ballet Theater, 6845 Green Oaks Road, Fort Worth, Texas. The sale will include a silent auction, raffles, and opportunities to take photos with ballet characters. The event runs from 8:00 a.m. To 3:00 p.m.
• The Texas Ballet Theater will continue the Get Behind Your Ballet fund-raising campaign on Friday, September 19 with “Rock the Ballet!,” a night of food, dancing, bands, and ballet at Embargo in Fort Worth, Texas. Tickets for this event are $25 for dinner and bands, or $15 for bands only.

Realistic Expectations?

$2 million might sound like a lot of money to raise in meeting the Texas Ballet Theater’s budget. But the company’s artistic director Ben Stevenson told the Dallas Morning News, “Quite frankly, it’s not that much money for two cities to come up with.” The two cities Stevenson was referring to are Fort Worth and Dallas, the company’s two homes.

The 39 professional dancers at the Texas Ballet Theater hope Stevenson’s predictions for public support come true.

“This company is our lives,” dancer Peter Zweifel told reporters.

Dancer Mark Troxler said, “This isn’t just a hobby of ours. This is our life,” echoing Zweifel. “This is how we pay the bills and eat our food, so this is serious.”

About the Texas Ballet Theater

Incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1961 by founding director Margo Dean, the Texas Ballet Theater began as Fort Worth Ballet. In the 40-plus years since it opened, the Texas Ballet Theater has served as as a civic company, and then as a civic regional ballet. And, in 1985 the Texas Ballet Theater finally became a professional company under co-artistic directors Nanette Glushak and Michel Rahn. In 1987, the company named Paul Mejia as artistic director, and took on a number of works from Balanchine’s repertoire.

Today, the Texas Ballet Theater follows artistic director Ben Stevenson, who has contracted to direct the company through the 2010-2011 season. The Texas Ballet Theater is the second largest professional dance company in Texas, and plans to produce 52 performances in Fort Worth and Dallas this season.

If you can’t attend the Get Behind Your Ballet fund-raising events, you can still help the Texas Ballet Theater by donating at this link.

For more coverage on the Texas Ballet Theater and the Get Behind Your Ballet campaign, visit the following links:

• The Get Behind Your Ballet campaign
• Texas Ballet Theater Struggles With $2 Million Shortfall from NBC5i
• Texas Ballet Theater Faces Uphill Climb in Fundraising from the Dallas Morning News