By Christina Hecht Former-president and current member of BRAVO, an active group that contributes thousands of hours of volunteer assistance every year and provides vital services to support SF Ballet. July 20, 2009
Friday was a busy day in the BRAVO Office. Angela (a ballet school parent and BRAVO member) and I spent four hours organizing craft projects that our young students will do in Club Nut this December (I’ll post more about Club Nut in December; Club Nut is where our Nutcracker student performers hang out between shows). At the same time BRAVO volunteer Corinne, the Friday office staffer, was checking BRAVO e-mail and answering messages from members.
The reward for our labors was to see the activity happening elsewhere in the building, as Angela and I ran errands for staff. On the second floor, the hallway was filled with students, most of them stretched out in impossible positions on the floor as they waited for their next Summer Session class, or watched older students work on learning variations. With piano music coming from every room and the chatter of students, it was a lively and heartwarming scene.
On the fourth floor, Isabelle Fokine (yes, the grand-daughter of Mikhail!) was coaching Petrouchka, while down the hall Christopher Wheeldon worked on his new ballet. My eyes filled with tears at the beauty of the dancers moving to that music . . . and my incredible good fortune to work with this organization.
BRAVO is the Ballet Resource and Volunteer Organization of SF Ballet. We have about 240 members who put in over 10,000 hours annually doing every conceivable form of volunteer assistance to SF Ballet. To find out more, go to bravosfb.org.
BRAVO Summer Update
Former-president and current member of BRAVO, an active group that contributes thousands of hours of volunteer assistance every year and provides vital services to support SF Ballet.
July 20, 2009
Friday was a busy day in the BRAVO Office. Angela (a ballet school parent and BRAVO member) and I spent four hours organizing craft projects that our young students will do in Club Nut this December (I’ll post more about Club Nut in December; Club Nut is where our Nutcracker student performers hang out between shows). At the same time BRAVO volunteer Corinne, the Friday office staffer, was checking BRAVO e-mail and answering messages from members.
The reward for our labors was to see the activity happening elsewhere in the building, as Angela and I ran errands for staff. On the second floor, the hallway was filled with students, most of them stretched out in impossible positions on the floor as they waited for their next Summer Session class, or watched older students work on learning variations. With piano music coming from every room and the chatter of students, it was a lively and heartwarming scene.
On the fourth floor, Isabelle Fokine (yes, the grand-daughter of Mikhail!) was coaching Petrouchka, while down the hall Christopher Wheeldon worked on his new ballet. My eyes filled with tears at the beauty of the dancers moving to that music . . . and my incredible good fortune to work with this organization.
BRAVO is the Ballet Resource and Volunteer Organization of SF Ballet. We have about 240 members who put in over 10,000 hours annually doing every conceivable form of volunteer assistance to SF Ballet. To find out more, go to bravosfb.org.
Students in class during the 2008 Summer Session. (© Erik Tomasson)