Founder Katia Kullengren believes that everyone should have a chance to reach their potential and to experience new things and ideas regardless of their finanical circumstances. The team’s mission at Ballet Without Borders has set about to do just that, by enabling children to participate in ballet education regardless of the social or economic constraints they may face.
Born in Kiev, Ukraine Katia moved to Australia in 1993. On arrival in Australia with her monther while she retrained as a doctor there wasn’t much to spare outside the essentials. During Katia’s childhood it was challenging to stay with ballet with only a few classes attainable with other more pressing prioities in the household – lack of money, constant moving around, little support for the art form and poor English did nothing to inspire dancing. Katia stopped dancing!
As an adult Katia was lucky enough to try again, finally gaining enough courage and financial resources to dance, sit and complete her Intermediate RAD Exam in October 2015. It wasn’t until Katia started attending regular ballet classes that she realised that most of the students were from the middle-upper class in adult and children’s schools. Katia wanted to do something that would promote the love many have for ballet because of the many wonderful things that ballet brings: discipline, musicality, artistry and movement. Not to mention the increasingly important mental and physical training which has an impact in many of life’s domains. Many have joined her to make a difference for others seeking to explore ballet in our communities from ballet teachers to leading professionals in the art of ballet.
Ballet Without Borders is a not-for-profit organisation that brings ballet education and ballet pathways to children who would otherwise not be able to access this art form.
The team at Ballet Without Borders provides several pathways to share ballet across the nation. This includes advocacy, working with schools to build ballet into the curriculm as well as school workshops and special events; through community organisations hosting school holiday programs and workshops; and through sponsorships and partnerships in the community.
