A Call to Action for OBT

A CALL TO ACTION

As we all know, Oregon Ballet Theatre is fighting for its life, and its life is in our hands. The national dance community is joining together enthusiastically to help all of us bring this vital organization back from the brink of collapse.

This Friday, June 12, ballet companies from across the nation are uniting with the Portland dance community to create an unforgettable evening of dance to benefit OBT.

We need to do two things.
1. Buy a ticket. Do not miss it! This will be a wonderfully full evening of dance. Go with your friends and family. If you need to, share in the cost of the tickets, and you can also each see half of the evening.

2. Donate and raise money. Whatever is raised at Friday’s event, our community needs to dedicate itself to matching this amount by June 30.

We have all known a friend or family member who has had a brush with mortality due to serious illness or other extreme circumstances. In almost every case these individuals feel extremely grateful for a second chance and are forever changed. They establish a much healthier way to live.

OBT is a close member of our family and is now facing the very real possibility that it will close its doors. Every single individual at OBT—dancers, management and staff—is deeply dedicated to fighting to keeping their organization alive. Like patients who change their ways after a close call, OBT has a solid financial plan that will allow them to live within the scope and boundaries of their means.

We cannot afford to let Oregon Ballet Theatre fail. National eyes are on us, and if we are not successful, all the local finger pointing will not change the fact that Portland could not support their ballet company of 20 years.

Let’s all do our part to give new life to OBT!

Paul King and Walter Jaffe, Co-Founders, White Bird