Ballet Magnificat!, the world’s first professional Christian ballet company, is bringing its Strategem tour to Hattiesburg on Friday, March 8, in support of a local non-profit organization, Leaps of Faith.
Leaps of Faith was started in 2015 with the mission to help any child of the Pine Belt who wants to experience ballet achieve that dream. The organization’s founder and director, Laura Catherine Dawson, states “Our mission is to teach classical ballet to families who cannot afford it, and to share the love of Christ to children, their families, and the community. We believe ballet is for everyone and is a way to share the love of Jesus and glorify Him.”
Starting almost nine years ago with only ten children, Leaps of Faith now serves more than 70 students, ages 3 through 16. The organization provides weekly lessons throughout the school year, along with all of the necessary costumes and equipment, free of charge. This allows access to ballet training that many of the students would never have the luxury to encounter otherwise.
Operating fully through donations and fundraising, Leaps of Faith hosts Ballet Magnificat! in the Pine Belt each year as their largest fundraising event. This year, the group is presenting their most whimsical ballet to date, “Strategem,” which puts a new spin on C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters. Viewers will experience the humor, athleticism, and drama as they depict the spiritual battle from the villain’s perspective.
The performance will be held at 7:00 p.m. on March 8 at the Thomas Fine Arts Center on the Hattiesburg campus of William Carey University. Tickets for the performance are $20 and available at bit.ly/LOF2024.
To learn more about Leaps of Faith, how to enroll a child in the Leaps of Faith program, or how to donate to the organization, visit www.LeapsofFaithMS.org.
