Queensland Ballet has a million reasons to smile
A mystery benefactor has matched donations to help Queensland Ballet reach its target of $1 million to keep the dream alive through the coronavirus crisis.
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Queensland Ballet has met its target of $1 million to get through the COVID-19 crisis and keep ballet going, despite not being able to stage its regular program.
The company made a promise to its supporters, to Keep the Magic Alive by finding new ways to inspire and engage every day – with content, community programs and a new take on story-sharing.
From that promise a campaign was born, and with it a pledge by the company to look after its
dancers and staff for as long as possible during the downturn that naturally arose from the inability to perform and run its community programs.
The entire season 2020 has been switched to 2021.
To support Queensland Ballet’s efforts an anonymous donor agreed to quadruple donations made during the month of June, up to $1 million.
Artistic director Li Cunxin said he was humbled by the support, which would provide some certainty during these testing times.
“A heartfelt thank you from all of us at Queensland Ballet to our community for all your support and helping to keep the magic alive,” Li said.
“It’s absolutely astounding and humbling that we were able to meet this end-June target of $1 million.
“We are so grateful to our visionary donor for enabling the ‘magic’ quadrupling of all donations received in June, and thank you to all who continue to believe and support our vision.
“We are of course still facing challenging and uncertain times ahead but we’ve made a pledge to our dancers and teams, that we will do our utmost to continue their employment for as long as possible, and this amazing result really goes a long way.
“Thank you all again for believing in us. Our Campaign will remain active through these unprecedented times as we continue to navigate uncertainty and understand the stimulus support that may be available to us from our Governments.
“Please do continue to donate and keep the magic alive if you feel so inspired. Any donations of $2 or more are tax deductible and will go directly to keeping Queensland Ballet dancers and its team employed until we are back doing what we love, on stage and in the community.”
Under the umbrella campaign of Keep the Magic Alive, the company premiered of a new body of work, 60 Dancers, 60 Stories. In its 60th year, Queensland Ballet’s 60 talented artists created 60 new works based on the theme of love to engage and inspire.
Each of the new pieces were conceptualised, choreographed, performed, directed and filmed by the dancers with two videos were released daily during the month of June.
The works will stay online until the end of the year.
To view them visit Queensland Ballet’s Facebook and Instagram channels or go to queenslandballet.com.au/60-dancers-60-stories
To donate go to keepthemagicalive.com.au