Alabama Ballet launches fundraising campaign to match challenge grant

Alabama Ballet, in its 37th year, is the state’s leading professional dance company. It mounts six productions annually and is one of only eight companies in the world allowed to perform George Balanchine's “The Nutcracker.”

But the ballet now has an exciting new opportunity, thanks to an anonymous $1 million “Pointe to the Future” challenge grant.

The organization announced the grant June 13 and has launched a fundraising campaign to match it. The challenge will match donations from people who haven’t previously contributed to the ballet.

It will also match each dollar given by a returning donor above the amount the donor gave the previous year. When a returning supporter doubles his or her previous gift, the grant will match the entire donation.

The campaign could raise $2 million, according to Ashlyn McClellan, the ballet’s public relations and marketing manager.

Alabama Ballet hopes to conclude the campaign during the Pointe Ball Gala fundraiser in February 2019. The ballet will use the money “to further artistic opportunities,” McClellan said.

“We strive to bring world-class, high-quality productions to the stage, and this grant means we can further ensure that happens for years to come,” McClellan said.

To learn more, go to alabamaballet.org.