They’re Brooklyn’s prima ballerinas!
Dancers from the Brighton Ballet Theater celebrated the end of the school’s summer program and the start of the company’s 30-year anniversary on Aug. 25. The program, headquartered in Kingsborough Community College in Manhattan Beach, welcomes more than 300 young dancers for its summer and year-round programs in ballet and modern dance. The school started in 1987 with just a handful of students, but has grown into an established and successful dance company, offering classes to students from around the world, said founder Irina Roizin.
“We opened our doors 30 years ago as a small school with five students and became one of the largest in New York that teaches ballet and modern dance,” she said. “We are a very diverse school and very proud of our diversity. We have students from all different backgrounds who want to learn ballet.”
The company puts on beautiful and elaborate shows, and the instructors are patient and understanding with students, according to the mother of two dancers — one with down syndrome — who drives her daughters all the way from Staten Island to Manhattan Beach for lessons.
“They have gifted kids, disabled kids, and average kids, and they work with them all. They are incredible. They don’t turn anyone away,” said Wallace Mohlenbrok.
