- March 28, 2024
Loading
Young dancers from Ormond Beach’s European School of the Performing Arts put on a community showcase Sunday, to continue fundraising for a November dance trip to China.
BY MIKE CAVALIERE | ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Outside, Biketoberfest was in full bloom — the noise and the traffic and the bikini-clad parking attendants. But inside of the Ormond Beach Performing Arts Center, at 3 p.m. Sunday, was something a bit more civilized.
An hour before show time, 18 dancers, 13-18 years old, from the European School of the Performing Arts, at 360 Tomoka Ave., got in one final rehearsal before the crowds outside filled the empty auditorium. The show was yet another fundraising effort by the group to support its November trip to the International Arts Festival in China, for which it had already raised $40,000.
“It was a grassroots effort,” mother Janet Peburn whispered through the dark, as dancers shuffled and leaped to the “Austin Powers” theme song onstage. “The community has really wrapped their arms around this project.”
Rehearsals have been going on since June, and funds have been donated through community events, such as a Bowling with Ballerinas day at Ormond Lanes, and from local companies. The top contributors so far, giving $2,500 or more, are A&W Construction; Advaitin Photography; Ashford Investment Group; Coastal Ear, Nose & Throat; Halifax Health; and the Peburn family.