New Ballet Dedicates Rotary Club of San Jose Black Box Theatre

New Ballet, the institution that Silicon Valley looks to for excellence in the art of ballet, has announced the dedication of the Rotary Club of San José Black Box Theatre in the Mohr Studio. In 2024, New Ballet was the award recipient of a $15,000 grant from the Rotary Club of San José Community Grant for FY25. This grant supported New Ballet's transformation of its Mohr Studio from a rehearsal space for New Ballet's professional company members to a studio that can also be an event-specific black box theatre.

The dedication of the Rotary Club of San José Black Box Theatre in the Mohr Studio will take place during New Ballet's annual Summer Showcase on Friday, July 25, 2025 at 1:30 PM. Limited guests are invited to experience the event in-person and it will also be broadcast to the public at New Ballet's Twitch Channel Twitch.tv/newballet. This annual showcase highlights the work of professional and pre-professional dancers taking part in New Ballet's summer intensive programming. Professional Dancers and students will perform selections of choreography and classroom technical demonstrations for an audience of family, friends, and supporters.

The Mohr Studio was originally named after Gloria Vauges Mohr, a former New York City Ballet dancer and dance educator in the Santa Clara region for more than 50 years. The new black box theatre will be dedicated as The Rotary Club of San Jose Black Box Theatre in the Mohr Studio. The Rotary Club of San Jose's funding of this project supported many important upgrades for the space including: electrical wiring and outlets, the purchase and installation of professional lighting, the requisite hardware to install these lights, and professional installation.

"New Ballet is extremely grateful to the Rotary Club of San Jose for this important grant that supports our ability to provide additional opportunities for the San José community to interact with professional ballet," said Dalia Rawson, Founder and Director of New Ballet. "The new black box space broadens New Ballet's educational programming offerings and creates additional opportunities for artists to create and present new work. The performance space is set up to offer professional lighting, a vital resource for our company members and upper-division students, as they build their professional choreographic and dance portfolios. Live streaming will also be available at the Rotary Club Black Box Theater in the Mohr Studio, allowing us to reach an almost unlimited audience."

About the ROTARY CLUB OF SAN JOSE

Founded in 1914, the Rotary Club of San Jose has been the community's most active and well-known service organization for over 110 years. Its members have contributed more than 3,000,000 volunteer hours to community and international service.

To date, the Rotary Club of San Jose has given over $3,000,000 in direct grants to more than 275 local nonprofit organizations, reinforcing its role as a cornerstone of San Jose's social and civic infrastructure.

For more information about the Rotary Club of San Jose and its programs, visit sjrotary.org.

About NEW BALLET

New Ballet is a 501(c)(3) not for profit corporation that was founded in 2016 by local dancer, choreographer, and ballet teacher Dalia Rawson.

The Company is the Resident Ballet Company of the Hammer Theatre. Its performances are vibrant celebrations of dance and fun theatrical experiences for the whole family. Hailed by Metro Silicon Valley as "the leading ballet organization in the South Bay," New Ballet celebrates the virtuosity of classical ballet and the cathartic power of the performing arts.

New Ballet's programs are made possible in part by an operating grant from the City of San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs.

For more information about New Ballet visit: https://newballet.com/

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