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Ballet has a new home in Brooklyn. And it’s Downtown.
The Brooklyn Ballet cut the ribbon on its new space inside Schermerhorn House on Tuesday, marking the high-stepping gypsy company’s first home since its creation in 2003.
“This is my dream come true,” said Lynn Parkerson, the creative genius and artistic director of Brooklyn Ballet, a non-profit that has performed and taught at theaters in Fort Greene, DUMBO, and Manhattan, a neighboring borough.
It took nearly two years for the organization to plant its pointe shoes in Schermerhorn House, which houses low-income earners and the formerly homeless on the once-forlorn block between Hoyt and Smith streets.
Borough President Markowitz was on hand to do his normal ribbon-cutting duties. He declined to dance, but said Parkerson had taught him plenty about fancy footwork.
“She swept me off my feet,” exclaimed the light-footed Markowitz. “I knew she had a vision.”
In an expected pas-de-deux, Parkerson then credited Markowitz for being a heavyweight (the political kind, of course!) in guiding the ballet into its new home, thanks to an $80,000 grant.
Brooklyn Ballet isn’t your average tutu-wearing, “Swan Lake”-regurgitating company. The organization is known for its fusion of dance styles — classic ballet and contemporary hip hop dancing are brought together smoother than Michael Jackson and the Moonwalk.
Veteran dancers Rob “Smiles” and “Big” Mike Fields hope the studio’s location will bring the company the credit — and talent — it deserves.
“People have been sleeping on Brooklyn,” Fields said. “There’s a lot of good dancers here.”
©2009 Community Newspaper Group
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