Brand-new studio puts Philadelphia Ballet in the spotlight

Before this big studio, we were practicing in probably less than half of this space. For a company of our size, we needed to have a home and finally it's here. The Philadelphia Ballet was founded by Barbara Weisberger in 1963. Well, we've had several different locations, but right now we are at 323 North Broad. The idea to expand the building actually probably started in 2016 and in 2024, we actually started construction and finished this past April through June. You'll be able to look up so we can see them. They'll be able to see us. We started our tour in the gathering space and then we moved into the Dance Innovation Lab. Then we saw where all the costumes are made and fitted and then we saw the shoe room. Right now in this room there's about 3,800 pairs of pointe shoes. Before these shoes were in a hallway in lockers. Quite a bit more space in here and it is, it's full. And then we were able to go into Pettipa Studio, which is our large studio, the same size as the Academy of Music stage. When we'd get everything inside from the lighting to the furniture to the desk to everything the dancers need, the price tag is $50 million. We're up to about $36 million. Two-thirds of what we've raised so far has been private investments from our community. As the school is expanding in the past few years, it's been really difficult to share the space. I suffered a really big injury last season. So coming into the new space this season as I've recovered and I'm working my way back onto the stage, the PT room has been a huge improvement. I remember it was so small. It was in that little office space, exactly right. I'm just looking forward to being on stage, but also it's nice to have this huge space and be able to bring people in and see what we do. That's what art is about, is sharing with the community and sharing with the world. We're very excited because this month on September 17th, 18th and 19th is our grand opening. People are going to be invited into the Dance Innovation Lab and then be able to go to different stations throughout the building. People really didn't even know where we were on North Broad. But now we have this front-facing, beautiful building calling everybody to come in and enjoy not only a performance, but really learn what happens behind the scenes, enjoy activities in our gathering space and possibly start taking dance. Anyone interested in learning more can go to our website at philadelphiaballet.org.