MEDIA
TV3 Firstline: 'Kiwi scores 'rugged' ballet scholarship' ... view
Kiwiblog: 'Help a young kiwi reach the top' .... view
Greatfun4kids: 'Billy Elliot, Eat Your Heart Out' .... view
Rogue Ballerina: 'Dancer Fundraising to get from NZ to CA' .... view
The Western Leader: 'Destiny meeting' sees Joel dance at the top' .... view
I am Joel Walsham, a young New Zealander who has been accepted into the LINES Ballet/Dominican University of California Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance) program.
I was also offered admission to New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and The Ailey School/Fordham University. These programs are unlike anything that can be offered in New Zealand, or elsewhere in the southern hemisphere.
I have chosen to attend LINES and I need your help to get there.
The Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance) is a joint program of the LINES Ballet and the Dominican University of California. This program is four years to complete, producing dancers who are training in a facility that also houses the LINES Ballet Company. LINES believe in training dancers who are instinctual, and who are artists in their own right. With its direct relationship to Alonzo King, one of the foremost choreographers of our time, the program offers students unique access to the process and environment in which current dance thought and practice is being shaped.
Based on a conservatory style training, it is creating not just excellent technicians, but thinking artists, that can advocate for the arts and become warriors for its progress. LINES in the only program of its kind and one of the best schools in the world, at what it does. They are producing cutting edge performers that become leaders who are shaping the dance industry. No New Zealander has ever been accepted into this program. In fact, there are no international students currently in the Bachelor Fine Arts program.
Visit joelwalsham.com and share this campaign using the Indiegogo share tools!
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The Cost
My parents have saved for my tertiary education from my birth, however they did not anticipate that I would be attending an American University. Despite their foresight, I am now facing the considerably higher costs of an American University. Over the four years, the total costs are around US$240,000.
Annual Cost of Attendance (US$) :
Tuition $40,150
Fees (Campus Comp/Activity)$450
Room and Board$13,380
Medical Insurance$3,800
Books/Supplies$1,710
Transportation$892
Personal Expenses$ 2,278
Total Budget $63,160
I have been the recipient of the Dominican University of California Presidential Scholarship, which is worth US$17,000 each year. This is the higher than the maximum amount that the University will give to an international student. I am extremely grateful, but there is still a large funding gap.
I am hoping to raise $20,000 which would mean that my first year of tuition would be almost covered, so that my family can have some more time to save for the future years.
My family has financed my dancing since I was born and made a significant investment in my dancing.
Your support would mean that I can live out this opportunity, which has been 15 years in the making.
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