Ballet B.C. reaches Nutcracker sales goal

Ballet British Columbia has sold enough tickets to The Nutcracker to keep its head above water--but now it says it needs $200,000 more to survive into the new year.

The company needed to sell 12,000 tickets to its presentation of the Moscow Classical Ballet work to keep afloat. It announced today (December 23) that it had finally reached that goal.

Revenue from those sales will give the troupe enough money to reorganize its finances and present a plan to creditors under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.

But Ballet B.C. has announced it needs an additional $200,000 in pledged donations in order to bring its artistic director, John Alleyne, and his dancers back into the studio.

On November 25, the company's board of directors laid off all 38 of its staff and dancers due to a financial crisis caused largely by flagging ticket sales to its productions.

The corps is eager to start work in January on Carmen, a major new work by Jean Grand-Maitre that is to open February 26.

Ballet B.C. has quite a way to go to be able to begin that project. So far, ballet supporters have pledged $25,000 toward the $200,000.

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