We first reported on this back on July 28th. Now from the Queens' Times Ledger, here's more about the Joffrey's new 15,500 sq.ft. space in Long Island City which exceeds the 15,000 sq.ft of its current West Village location:
"We have outgrown our space in the Village at 10th Street and 6th Avenue that we have been in since 1954,” [JBS operations director Lee] Merwin said. “This will be additional space. The space will have open classes for adults and professionals, our pre-professional dance program, primarily the contemporary jazz program but also ballet trainees, as well as our children’s program and after-school Young Dancer program. We expect the build-out to finish in January 2016.”
. . . .
“We couldn’t find space in Manhattan that a performance arts organization like ours could afford,” he said. . . . Long Island City also has a burgeoning dance scene with new performance spaces and a lot of young dancers who are just starting out are moving into LIC.”
. . . .“There is a lot of residential building going on in LIC and a significant percentage of those moving into the area are young parents with children that fit the demographic for our children’s and after-school youth programs,” he said.
The arts folks in Queens are joyous over the Joffrey's arrival. Sheila Lewandowski, the co-founder and executive director of the Chocolate Factory Theater, and LIC Arts Open Executive Director Richard Mazda, the owner of the Secret Theatre and founder and artistic director of the Queens Players, are among those who are thrilled.
Lewandowski: “It’s so exciting,” she said. “I’m thrilled to welcome more professional dance to Queens. We are the place to create!”
Mazda: “It’s a huge vote of confidence to be chosen over the other boroughs.”
Just wait until La Guardia Community College stops by with a welcome basket full of muffins. This is tremendous foresight and planning on the part of the Joffrey Ballet School.