Ballet Chelsea has a brand new home and with it will come new classes and offerings for people of all ages. The non-profit, which began as the performance arm of
Dance Arts of Chelsea in 1995 has grown into quite the entity in and of itself - which eventually led to the need for its own space.
"We were expanding our ideas of programs we wanted to add and other things we wanted to do, and we felt we needed more space," says Ballet Chelsea manager Brenda Stevens. "We didn't want to take advantage of the other organization, so we decided to strike out on our own."
The non-profit found just the right place to do so on S. Main St. in Chelsea. The 8,000 square foot studio allows Ballet Chelsea space for three dance studios, the largest of which is the size of their performance stage.
"It has done is allowed us to have more control over the training of our dancers, and we can establish the class offerings ourselves," Stevens says. " It's allowed us to open up different types of dance to the community. We're offering Scottish Highland step, and we're going to have ballroom dancing, yoga and Pilates."
Ballet Chelsea opened in their new space three weeks ago after first locating the space in February. As the space was a white box at that time, the organization built their studio from the ground up with the financial assistance of many local supporters.
The non-profit currently serves about 50 to 60 dancers during their summer programming, but Stevens expects that number to climb to more than 300 people weekly in the fall. The increase in class offerings has spurred the hire of two new instructors, brining their total to 14.
Source: Brenda Stevens, Ballet Chelsea
Writer: Natalie Burg
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