🔒This startup ballet theater launched during the pandemic. Now it’s opening a new Farmington HQ amid growth efforts

As the New England Ballet Theatre (NEBT) prepares for its third season, the startup nonprofit arts organization is building a new facility and raising money to continue its growth efforts.

The organization was founded in January 2020, right before COVID-19 knocked the wind out of the arts and culture industry, to offer a differentiated entertainment experience, with the goal of focusing on new, original works and emerging choreographers.

So far, it’s put on eight major live performances that have attracted hundreds of attendees to rented space in various Greater Hartford venues.

Now the group is building out a new 3,865-square-foot headquarters facility in Farmington, at 353 Scott Swamp Road, and launching a new training program to diversify its revenue streams. The site will be New England Ballet’s new home base as it attempts to grow its Greater Hartford presence with unique productions and educational opportunities.

“We just want to be risk takers,” said NEBT Artistic and Executive Director Rachael Gnatowski.

The nonprofit recently launched a $75,000 capital campaign to help fund some of the new facility’s build-out. The headquarters will have three dance studios, office, storage and conference space, a costume shop and locker rooms for artists and students.

The money will go toward everything from building walls and laying studio dance floors to hiring new company dancers and launching the school’s pre-professional division.

Every ballet and show produced by New England Ballet Theatre will be created in the nonprofit’s new home. In addition to the shows, NEBT runs a dance school that will be housed in the Farmington property.

“Our tagline for this campaign is ‘building the future of ballet in New England,’ and that’s truly what we’re trying to do,” said Victoria Manning, NEBT’s assistant executive director and school director.

Building NEBT

NEBT isn’t the only nonprofit ballet group in Connecticut. In fact, a number already exist, including the Hartford-based Connecticut Ballet and New Haven Ballet, which are among at least a half-dozen other similar organizations.

Gnatowski said she founded her nonprofit with dancer Emily Orzada to offer something different from other ballet theaters that often focus on popular works.

“As a dancer, I was kind of noticing that the same shows are being performed everywhere with the big major companies,” Gnatowski said. “Because we’re all nonprofits, and we’re constantly fundraising and trying to sell tickets, ballet companies have kind of gotten stuck in a cycle of performing the same big shows and hiring the same big choreographers.”

For example, Gnatowski said NEBT has not produced the “Nutcracker” as its holiday show, and probably won’t ever.

“We’ve decided to do this show called the ‘The Fantastic Toyshop,’ which we made for the Greater Hartford region and kind of celebrates the community,” Gnatowski said.

New England Ballet tries to tie its productions to Connecticut and localize performances. The “Fantastic Toyshop,” for example, takes place in 1943 Hartford on Christmas Eve and prominently features the G. Fox & Co. department store and one of its pioneering leaders, Beatrice Fox Auerbach.

The ballet, which was first choreographed in 1919, sold more than 350 tickets in two shows last year.

In its first season, NEBT collaborated with Interval House in Hartford to put on a benefit show for the domestic violence nonprofit. It has also partnered with Arts for Learning CT and the Boys & Girls Club of Hartford.

While this is its third season, Gnatowski said it feels like the first full one. Opening just a few months before the pandemic meant it couldn’t host a full slate of large performances.

A typical season runs from September to May, and the NEBT performs four large shows at venues such as Kingswood Oxford in West Hartford and the Greater Hartford Academy, in addition to smaller pop-up productions. It has performances scheduled for October, December, February and May.

A new home

NEBT opened its own school in February 2021, and will launch its professional training program when the new Farmington facility debuts in September. Manning said the school was initially started because they needed student dancers for a spring production. From there, the idea grew.

“A lot of people wanted more — there’s definitely a need and a want for a major ballet school in the Hartford area,” Manning said. “With the company growing, we need our own dedicated space.”

The three studios at the new headquarters will give Manning space to launch a new full-time training program for students of all age groups, from 2-year-olds to adults. The school has about 50 students enrolled for the current year, but will have room for potentially several hundred at the new Farmington location.

The biggest room in the new facility is large enough for in-studio productions, said Manning, who joined NEBT as a dancer during its inaugural season but was open to running the school because she’s always been passionate about teaching.

“I love teaching and training the next generation, so we started and ran with it,” Manning said. “We’re really trying to reach all ages and make ballet a lot more accessible for everybody.”

Gnatowski said dance companies like NEBT rely on grants and donations to put on their shows — ticket sales don’t cover all expenses. While it’s a nonprofit, NEBT pays all its professional dancers, choreographers and others associated with the productions, on top of renting venues.

“That’s why a lot of nonprofits have a school attached — hopefully some of the revenue that you make from the school can go back into those big productions,” Gnatowski said.

NEBT’s Development Manager and Costume Director Fiona Connolly handles grant writing, fundraising and business outreach sponsorship efforts. She is also a costume designer.

“That money is always going into making our shows bigger, to make the costumes better, to buy set pieces, backdrops, or hire guest choreographers,” Connolly said. “It’s always to make our productions and school offerings bigger and better.”

Connolly also makes all of the outfits used in the productions, another unique element at NEBT. The new costume shop will provide a place to create her designs, she said.

“It’s definitely been a lot, starting like a brand new company with pretty much nothing in the costume closet, but it’s been super exciting for me to just be able to start from scratch and whatever my vision is for a particular part in a particular show, I can just make it happen,” Connolly said.

Connolly, who is also a performer, said it was never in her initial plan to get into costume design, but she fell in love with the craft while studying at Butler University.

“It’s pretty unique that we have a costume shop — not every company gets to have one of those,” Gnatowski said.

The nonprofit also plans to hire a community outreach coordinator. More dancers and administrators could be brought on down the road.

“That’s the next focus as things start to open up — we definitely want to develop the community outreach side more,” Gnatowski said.