Ballet West is a ballet school with an outstanding reputation, based in Taynuilt in Argyll. Since it was established in 1990 as a provider of weekend and evening classes to local children and adults, Ballet West has steadily developed its ambitious educational programme. It now offers a full-time HND in Professional Dance Performance and a BA (Hons) in Dance, as well as a variety of outreach classes for students from age 3 through to adults. These include classes for nearly 300 young people throughout Argyll, four summer schools and two year-long Aspiring Professional courses in Edinburgh and Glasgow. 

In addition, Ballet West has developed as a semi-professional touring company with an extensive audience base and extremely high reputation for delivering quality productions throughout Scotland. The 2014 tour of Swan Lake took place at 12 venues around Scotland and was seen by over 5000 people. In recent years the company has also toured China with productions of Romeo and Juliet and Swan Lake.

A number of our students have won international competitions and secured contracts in leading dance companies around the world. In 2012, one of our dancers won the Molly Lake Award for Best British Dancer and in 2013, another student was awarded a bronze medal in the International Gene Awards.

We now need to build a new studio at our base in Taynuilt, Argyll. Current facilities are overstretched and no longer fit for purpose for dancers in the 21^st century. The new studio will enable the school to grow and offer facilities which are commensurate to the high standard of training at the school. The cost of the project is £575,000 and funding is being sought from a wide range of public, private and third sector sources.  

We really need to raise as much money as possible to support this project and would be grateful of any help you can give. Thank you for your time - we would be delighted if you chose to support our cause.