01 & 14 (86)Public Comment
From: George Gilliam <
Sent: Friday, April 23, 2021 10:49 AM
To: Public Comment
Cc: info@anaheimballet.org
Subject: Letter of Support to approve site -for -service agreement with the Anaheim Ballet
Hello,
This letter is in support of approving the site -for -service agreement with the Anaheim Ballet. Please
deliver our public comment to Mayro Sidhu and Council Members for the April 27, 2021 City Council
meeting. Thank you in advance.
Dear Mayor Sidhu and Council Members,
My name is Dr. Cynthia Smith, and I am a board-certified music therapist and the Program Director of
Creative Identity, a non-profit therapeutic music and expressive arts program which has been serving
the fine arts and prevocational education needs of adults with intellectual and developmental
disabilities in Anaheim since 1996. 1 am writing in support of continuing the Anaheim Ballet's "site -for -
service" agreement with the City of Anaheim, and to voice our support for the cultural enrichment and
community service provided by the Anaheim Ballet.
For more than two decades, the Anaheim Ballet has provided unique opportunities to under -served
youth, by providing a safe environment for education and world-class ballet training, exposing them to
invaluable cultural perspectives and enrichment, cultivating interpersonal and professional growth,
personal and social responsibility, and bringing world recognition to Anaheim as a focal point of fine
arts excellence. To the larger community, the Anaheim Ballet provides access to world-class cultural
enrichment, expansion of musical and cultural heritage appreciation, and inspiring and uplifting our
minds and hearts through the amazing and beautiful expression of the human form in dance. More
than ever, all these things are crucially needed to heal from the pandemic, experience the power of
music and aesthetic beauty to make new neural connections in the brain thereby changing lives for
the good, and very importantly, to help relieve stress and give us hope for the future.
All of us at Creative Identity ask you to please consider keeping the Anaheim Ballet in the Anaheim
Cultural Arts Center by requesting the state rescind the mandate for affordable housing at this historic
site. Most essentially, we sincerely ask that you approve the agreement between the City of Anaheim
and the Anaheim Ballet to have one year to negotiate a relocation home and continue the "site -for -
service" partnership. The Anaheim Ballet is a great gift to our community that uplifts the lives of their
participants and their audiences, making Anaheim, it's surrounding communities and the world a
better place. I thank you in advance for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Dr. Cynthia Smith, MT -BC
Program Director
Creative Identity
200 N Harbor Blvd Suite 210
Anaheim, CA 92805
phone
www.creativeidentity-oc.org