An open letter to the followers of the Ballerina Project.
The Ballerina Project was originally created around modest aspirations. My intention was to someday have enough images that I could convince a reputable publisher to turn it into a beautiful art book. That was over 10 years ago and much has changed. Within these years numerous ballerinas and people behind the scenes have contributed to what you all know as the Ballerina Project. Today it is no longer important that the project get the book deal that I once dreamt about. It has turned into a collective effort to affect positive change for the way ballet is perceived and engaged.
At this moment the Ballerina Project is on the edge of either succeeding or slowly fading away. With our Kickstarter campaign we have the opportunity to raise grassroots venture capital to grow the project tremendously. This growth would make us sustainable for the foreseeable future. On the other hand the project is currently on a trajectory to slowly wind down in approximately a year if no change is implemented. Currently the project only makes back 50 or 60 cents for every dollar it spends and is in no way sustainable. We have explored and exhausted many funding options over the last several years and have determined that the best direction is our new plan and Kickstarter campaign.
We feel that creating beautiful content as in short dance films, documentaries and still photography is the best way to grow and sustain the project. Unlike a book, web content can grow and evolve harmoniously over time. By taking ballet outside the stage and theater we can completely expand the medium because it can be edited and mastered. Once a film is created it can be viewed over and over again and then truly preserved for ages. As things such as bookstores, “snail” mail and wall calendars begin to disappear, the internet, laptops and mobile computers have become the norm. We believe that we can not depend on what worked in the past but take the direction of what we believe will work in the present and the future.
Today we need your help to take the project to another level. Without your support, the project will become a distant memory. It will take a village, a town and a city of people to make this project special.
If over the years you have enjoyed the images from the Ballerina Project please donate to our Kickstarter campaign. Every dollar we raise will go along way to achieving our goal. If every follower of the Ballerina Project donated a single dollar, it would allow the project to reach new heights. If you are unable to donate please share our Kickstarter with your friends or family.
Follow this link to our Kickstarter campaign: http://kck.st/YO4Nna
Follow this link to our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/theballerinaproject
Dane Shitagi
creator/photographer
