6/09

Borough President Markowitz Cuts Ribbon at New Brooklyn Ballet Headquarters in Space at Innovative Schermerhorn House

On Tuesday, June 16, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz joined Brooklyn Ballet, Common Ground and elected officials to cut the ribbon at the Ballet’s new headquarters at Schermerhorn Street. In a unique partnership with Common Ground, the affordable housing group, and The Actor’s Fund, Brooklyn Ballet’s home is a new and innovative model, incorporating performance space, a school and offices in downtown Brooklyn’s newly built Schermerhorn House. 

“Brooklyn is the ‘Creative Capital of New York City’ and the Brooklyn Ballet’s new headquarters in the innovative Schermerhorn House will add yet another jewel to the Downtown Brooklyn Cultural Corridor—a ‘cultural economy’ extending from Court Street to the BAM Cultural District that is a major job generator for our borough,” said BP Markowitz. “I am proud to support this unique partnership with Common Ground and The Actor’s Fund, providing the Ballet with performance and educational space befitting a world-class dance company that has grown under the visionary leadership of Lynn Parkerson. So, lace up your pointe shoes and bring on the pliés and pirouettes!”

“With Brooklyn as one of America’s cultural capitals, we are thrilled to make our new home in such a dynamic and supportive arts community,” said Lynn Parkerson, who founded the Company in 2002 with the goal of bringing artistic and educational ballet programs to the richly diverse population that calls theborough home.“We are extremely grateful to Borough President Marty Markowitz and Brooklyn Council Member David Yassky for their great support in making our dream of a new home in Brooklyn the wonderful reality that it has become today. We also want to thank Common Ground and The Actor’s Fund for its innovative approach to the arts and supportive housing.” 

According to Council Member David Yassky,“This is precisely the type of collaboration that makes New York such a great place. I am honored to support this effort and represent this dynamic community, and will continue my fight to promote city-wide initiatives like this which make New York an inviting and affordable place to live while also strengthening its cultural vitality.” 

From Brooklyn Ballet press release:

The Ballet’s new home is made possible through a unique partnership with Common Ground and The Actors Fund, non-profit organizations that have converted old hotels in the Times Square area to facilities for low-income artists and the formerly homeless. Brooklyn Ballet will be located in The Schermerhorn House a new, 11-story, 211-unit residential building in downtown Brooklyn. In addition to the Ballet, the building will include small studios for artists, who will occupy half of the apartments, while the other half will be for the formerly homeless or those who need daily support. Brooklyn Ballet’s tenancy plus a black box theater on the ground floor was part of the vision that would ensure that the building would not operate in isolation from its surroundings, which include 14 new $2 million townhouses and the nearby BAM Cultural District.

Photos: Julienne Schaer for Web site

Brooklyn Ballet: A Snapshot

Lynn Parkerson, an internationally acclaimed performer, choreographer, educator and presenter, was drawn to Brooklyn because of the borough’s steadily developing performing arts infrastructure, long seen as an alternative to the long established cultural scene in Manhattan. Arriving in 1998, Parkerson was Assistant Director of the 92nd St Y Harkness Dance Center and had also served as Artistic Director of Dance at Holy Trinity, a performing space in Manhattan. A classically trained dancer, she apprenticed with the Boston Ballet and performed with the Chicago Ballet and as a contemporary performer in Europe before moving to New York. She created work for Munich’s Theater Festival, toured Europe as a solo performer, and danced in the Moers New Jazz Festival. 

Parkerson’s interest in multi-disciplinary collaborations and in diverse dance communities drove her in the direction of starting a company and school. She founded Brooklyn Ballet in 2002 and a year later, in response to demand from the community, inaugurated its Ballet School in 2003, ahead of its original schedule. In support of its goal to make the classical dance form accessible to audiences of all types, the Company has developed a unique outreach program called Elevate, which educates both teachers and students about ballet via an in-school residency conducted by the Company’s professional dancers. Based on the excellence of these and its other programs, Lynn Parkerson was awarded a Paul Robeson Award for Artistic Excellence and Community Service in 2006 and in 2007 was the recipient of Brooklyn’s “Herstory” Award given by Borough President Marty Markowitz.

That Elevate has been a resounding success in public schools across the borough with over 1,000 elementary and middle school children participating each year owes much to the multicultural background of Brooklyn Ballets’ great team of collaborators, which includes both seasoned dancers and young virtuosos. In 2006, Caridad Martinez came on board as Brooklyn Ballet School Director and was appointed Resident Choreographer later that year. Martinez was a principal dancer with the Ballet Nacional de Cuba. She is joined by other seasoned talent such as violinist Gil Morgenstern, composer Jim Papoulis and Education Director Oona Haaranen, formerly with the Finnish National Ballet. Almost since its inception Brooklyn Ballet has worked with Jayme Koszyn Consulting in partnership with the Ballet’s leaders to create a solid fundraising platform. Jayme Koszyn was an executive at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and has advised numerous Brooklyn culturals. 

The Company includes dancers who have performed at such prestigious institutions as Dance Theater of Harlem, American Ballet Theater, Ballet Hispanico, Bolshoi Ballet Academy, Julliard School, Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Cuba’s Escuela Nacional de Arte, as well as several of NY’s most exciting street dancers. 

The Company embarked on its first international venture in 2006 when it was invited to perform in Mexico by the Cultural Consulate of Chiapas to sold-out audiences and standing ovations. The 2007 season included the theatrical première of Parkerson’s Brooklyn Caprice, a piece for ballet and street dancers which evolved through site-specific performances throughout Brooklyn since 2004. 

In 2008 the Company and Youth Ensemble performed at the 92nd St Y, Empire Fulton-Ferry State Park, Brooklyn Borough Hall Plaza, Marine Park, East New York’s Christian Cultural Center and Brooklyn Children’s Museum, among others. Along with its ongoing outreach curriculum, Brooklyn Ballet’s future plans for growth include continuing to build world-class repertory and the development of new touring opportunities. 

To support its new home, Brooklyn Ballet will be launching its first-ever Campaign, A Home for Brooklyn Ballet, in the fall of 2009.