Florida Ballet Research Paper

The Florida Ballet is located in Jacksonville, Florida and is a nonprofit organization. They get their funding from individual donations as well as corporate donations from contributors such as Johnson and Johnson Vision, Howard Services, and Taps and Bar Grill. In 1978 Michael Byrd and Laurie Picinich-Byrd founded the Florida Ballet as a way to give back to the community.
Michael was raised in Jacksonville his whole life and went to college at the University of Florida. He then moved to New York City to become a professional dancer. Laurie was raised in New Jersey and was accepted into the Metropolitan Opera House ballet school at the age of 12. She then transferred to Quintano’s School for Young Professionals as a full time student and

The Florida Ballet had dance performances, but they also made education programs for the schools in Jacksonville. This became such a large success that they were given their very first federal grant. With this money they spread the education program to 125 schools throughout Jacksonville. Many of the more serious dancers wanted Michael and Laurie to train them, so in 1981 they created the Florida Ballet Training Center. The new Training Center was located in the old Ivy’s building but later relocated to the First Presbyterian Church. The dancers of the Florida Ballet toured and performed throughout the southeast from 1983 to 1989. The Florida Ballet received grants from the Department of State’s making it the highest funded dance company for three consecutive years. However, when the economy began to get worse, the funds they received began to get lower. This meant that they had to cut back on staff and dancers they accepted because they were not financially stable enough to keep them all. Even though the funds lowered, the Florida Ballet still went on with their performances as well as the training classes and education programs. Despite these lowered funds, each year more and more dancers enrolled in the offered classes. In 2004, the Florida Ballet moved to 300 East State Street and is still located