Guest Blog: London Russian Ballet School's Harriet Pickering On Philanthropy

What role does philanthropy play in the world of arts?

Philanthropy is integral to the arts, allowing them to prosper in society which all too often is able to overlook them. Equally, engaging children in the arts is fundamental to its growth and prosperity. Here at the London Russian Ballet School, our interest is ballet.

We take ballet - and in our case Russian ballet - seriously. We share our love of ballet by giving back to the local community through our affiliated charity Kids Love Lambeth, offering children the opportunity to witness ballet on stage through our outreach performances. This circle of performance and training is what makes us thrive as a school.

Currently, there is just not enough representation of the arts at a high level in the general academic curriculum. With such a lack of the richness of classical ballet and music being made readily available for children, how can we expect these arts to survive?

Ballet, particularly, is often neglected in the general school curriculum, and because children are not exposed to it at a young age, they are less likely to feel encouraged to pursue it later on or think about going to see a ballet performance. Ballet is in danger of developing a niche identity.

We are here to change that.

We believe that allowing young children to experience ballet through high level performance allows them to develop their own critical platform and enriches their lives. Russian-taught ballet is based on hundreds of years of tradition and produces wonderful dancers, but the system can be applied to anyone in the world.

Nothing embodies our ideals more than Romantic Revolution, which will be taking place at the London Palladium on 18 September. This is a collaboration with the Bolshoi Ballet and four leading Principal dancers will participate in this amazing philanthropic event.

Thanks to our wonderful donors, we are able to take 800 young children from London to see these Bolshoi Ballet principals perform on stage with our students. Without those generous donations, these children would only dream of seeing ballet performed on stage.

It will be an experience that they will never forget, and being able to see some of the highest-quality ballet performed right in front of their eyes will hopefully light a spark to think a little differently about life and themselves, and will show them that anything is possible.

It is a cultural event too, as many of these youngsters know nothing about Russia. Art needs to knock down barriers. We are proud of the standard of dance that we produce and of our audiences. So join us at the Palladium!

Romantic Revolution is at London Palladium on 18 September

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