01 & 14 (160)Public Comment
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RE: Council Meeting 4/27/21
Jackie < >
Monday, April 26, 2021 10:11 AM
Public Comment
info@anaheimballet.org
Anaheim Ballet Support Council Meeting 4/27/21
Anaheim Ballet Support 4 27 21.docx
Dear Mayor Sidhu and Council Members,
I am an adult student at Anaheim Ballet and an advocate for Step Up!, Anaheim Ballet?s educational
community outreach.
I've attached my letter of support for Anaheim Ballet.
Thank you for your leadership and service to our community.
Jacquelyn Gonzales Coffey
Support for Anaheim Ballet 4/27/21 from Jacquelyn Gonzales Coffey
Dear Mayor Sidhu and Council Members,
I am an adult student at Anaheim Ballet and an advocate for Step Up!,
Anaheim Ballet's educational community outreach.
I sometimes arrive early for my classes so that I can watch the young
children beginning their ballet training. It's good for me to remember that I was
one of these children. The parents watching outside the classroom are like my
parents; all wanting to prepare their children for a better future.
I am Mexican -American. My grandparents only had a 3rd grade education.
My father was denied elementary school because he only spoke Spanish. The
school said he could come back when he spoke English. When Spanish is the only
language of your family and neighbors, how does a young boy learn to speak
English?
Access and opportunity are often taken for granted by many. My parents
wanted me to go to college, but they didn't have any idea of how to make this
happen. For them getting a child into college was like standing outside a closed
door with a combination lock. Even if they could figure out the combination to
open the lock, they knew the door only opened from the inside. They knew that
someone on the inside would need to open the door and invite me in.
The open door to my yet unknown future began with one ballet class. At
the age of seven I was invited to a local YMCA's outreach program for
underserved children.
Step Up! is Anaheim Ballet's educational outreach to the community,
offering ongoing classes at no cost to those unable to pay. Step Up! is an
excellent and exceptional program. All students, regardless of race, ethnicity or
gender are welcomed and treated with dignity, patience, and respect. Individual
effort is encouraged and supported by teachers in the community of fellow
aspiring dancers. The pursuit of excellence and beauty in ballet technique is the
transformative process, but the outcome is transferable life skills: self-awareness,
self-control, self -responsibility, diligence, dependability, perseverance, patience,
persistence and so much more. These life skills open doors.
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I continued to train weekly in ballet from elementary school thru and
beyond high school. Teachers and mentors encouraged my potential and doors
began to open.
I graduated from the University of California, Irvine. The Chancellor and
faculty honored me as the Outstanding Senior Woman for my graduating class.
Dr. Eugene Loring invited me to become the ballet master and one of
twelve dancers for his company: Los Angeles Dance Theatre. He encouraged me
to continue my education because successful dance companies are "more than
dance." I completed a Master's degree in Business Administration and course
work toward a PhD in Communication.
Biola University invited me to become a full-time professor in Drama and
Theatre. It was a privilege to teach there for many years.
The Mayor and City Manager for Brea invited me to become the first
Cultural Arts Commissioner. I actively participated in the vision and development
of the Civic and Cultural Center, which includes a theatre, art gallery, library, and
video production facility. We also implemented the Art in Public Places program
which now has over 175 sculptures for public viewing around the city.
A dance company invited me to create a thirty -minute ballet; the dancers
being accompanied by a full orchestra. On the night of the premier, the music
director and I were standing together reading the evening's program. It was the
first time he read my maiden name. "Gonzales?" He asked quizzically, quickly
followed by "How did a Mexican become involved in the classical arts?"
The answer: an invitation to a ballet class. An invitation that opened the
door for a future that my parents and I could never have imagined or envisioned.
As a producer, director, or choreographer I have been involved in hundreds
of professional theatrical, corporate, and civic event productions. Some of the
productions toured nationally and internationally, and some were produced right
in Anaheim at the Convention Center.
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Because of your leadership and the leaders that came before you, Anaheim
is recognized world-wide as an invitational city, a city of access and opportunity, a
city where the arts and creativity flourish. Many are initially attracted by
Disneyland, a realization of Walt Disney's immense creativity and vision. When
asked how it all began, he would fondly answer, "It all began with a mouse."
Walt's message of small beginnings continues to resonate: when nourished and
developed, small beginnings can transform lives, transform culture, and transform
the future.
Anaheim Ballet is internationally recognized as a premier training,
performing, and educational center; a place where small beginnings can be
transformed into inspirational lives. Please continue to support us. Please keep
our doors open. Please help us continue to provide access and opportunity to any
child, teen, or adult that aspires to excellence.
Thank you,
Jacquelyn Gonzales Coffey
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