Carolina Ballet must move from its longtime studio. Here’s how you can help.
After more than 20 years in its studio space north of downtown Raleigh, Carolina Ballet will be relocating at the conclusion of its performance season in May.
The building that houses the company’s studio, located at 3401 Atlantic Ave., has been sold, and the group will first move into a temporary location before eventually buying or building a permanent space — the company’s “forever home.”
Both moves will be supported by a new capital campaign with a goal to raise $5 million over the next five years.
The moves and the campaign come as the company, which was founded in Raleigh in 1998, celebrates its 25th anniversary performance season.
“Right now we are only 25 years old, which is not that old for a ballet company,” Adam Schiffer, Carolina Ballet’s director of development, said in an interview with The News & Observer. “But we’re going to be 30 in five years, and so hopefully by then we’ll have our own space.”
The campaign will mark the ballet’s second in five years. The company’s last major campaign, “Choreographing Carolina Ballet’s Future,” launched in 2018 with a goal of raising $10 million.
Though the company receives financial support from local, state and federal governments and corporations, the campaigns are significant boons to the company’s budget and operations, which are largely supported by individual donors, Schiffer said.
“Of course, the state of North Carolina and the city of Raleigh are helping us as well,” Schiffer said. “But without the individuals that believe in having live, high-quality ballet in Raleigh, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do. It really is really humbling.”
The move to a temporary space
Schiffer said the company found out this summer that their home of more than 20 years was being sold by the family that owns the Atlantic Avenue building. A longtime, Raleigh-based family business will be taking over the space, Schiffer said.
“You know, real estate is a business, and they are selling it,” Schiffer said. “And we’re happy for them.”
The ballet company had previously begun looking for a permanent space last year, Schiffer said, and started looking more intensely this summer after learning that their building had been sold. But with the “crazy real estate market” in Raleigh and beyond over the past couple of years, it was difficult to find something that checked the necessary boxes for a professional ballet studio — namely, a footprint of about 25,000 square feet and “big, high ceilings.”
“There was really nothing to buy,” Schiffer said.
The new owners of the ballet company’s current studio are accommodating the group and allowing them to stay in the space through the end of their 2022-2023 performance season, which began in September and will run through mid-May.
“We can stay here until the end of the season, which is huge and super, super helpful,” Schiffer said.
Until the company can find a permanent space to accommodate their needs, they’ll move into and rent a temporary space in Raleigh. The company is eyeing a space about a mile away from their current Atlantic Avenue studio for that purpose, Schiffer said.
Phase One of the new capital campaign will support efforts to update the temporary space to fit the company’s needs. The company plans to use the temporary space until a new, permanent location can be secured and ready — a goal that will be supported by a second phase of the campaign, Schiffer said.
Vision for new, permanent studio space
The company’s eventual “forever home” will, in many ways, be a physical representation and extension of its ongoing mission — as well as its lasting longevity in the Raleigh community.
While premier, professional ballet companies are often seen as an elitist, Schiffer said, Carolina Ballet makes concerted efforts to make ballet and live, high-quality performances accessible to the community, financially and otherwise.
During the pandemic, the company has made discounted tickets available to essential workers. College students are also eligible for discounted tickets, and high school students can receive free, complimentary tickets. Other outreach efforts include matinee performances for school groups, as well as a Dancers in Schools program that has impacted more than 60,000 North Carolina students since 2004.
With those outreach efforts and other programming, Schiffer said, the company’s goal is to elevate and enhance the community’s quality of life.
“When any big company moves here — it doesn’t matter if it’s Apple or any large company — when they look at why they should move here, they look at the quality of the arts, and they look at the quality of life, and that’s how a community can get to a better place, in a way, that you have good quality arts,” Schiffer said. “And we have an amazing symphony. We have an amazing museum. And we do have an absolutely fantastic ballet company that is up to the standards of any capital city in the United States.”
The company’s mission will continue and grow in the new space, with an eye toward being physically close and accessible to the community — with the hope and possibility of becoming a recognizable destination and attraction in Raleigh, Schiffer said.
“Ideally, we would like to be in a location where people can just walk there and see ballet through the windows,” Schiffer said. “Maybe somewhere in downtown, or somewhere where people walk.”
The company’s website further explains the vision for the new space: “Our goal for the permanent location is to create an environment where arts organizations, nonprofit groups, and the public can gather together, practice their crafts, and connect with one another. We envision a peaceful outdoor space where individuals from all backgrounds can experience art, relax their minds, and feed their souls.”
Financially, the company’s plan to build or buy — and maybe even own outright, depending on the cost and funds raised, Schiffer said — a new, permanent space will ensure stability, allowing the group to pay a fixed rate and avoid worries about potential rent increases.
The move also symbolizes Carolina Ballet’s strength and staying power in Raleigh.
“That is why this campaign is important, because it really shows how the community is able to not just sustain, but to elevate Carolina Ballet into the next five, 10, 25 or 100 years,” Schiffer said. “We might not be here, but Carolina Ballet will be here.”
Learn more about Carolina Ballet and how to help
You can learn more about Carolina Ballet’s new capital campaign and give online at carolinaballet.com/ways-to-give/campaign.
This story was originally published December 1, 2022 at 7:01 AM with the headline "Carolina Ballet must move from its longtime studio. Here’s how you can help.."
