Welcome

What a joy it is for me to welcome you back to the Irvine Barclay Theatre for The Wooden Floor’s 39th Annual Concert: Hope Abounds! Art does so much for our students and our community – it helps us grow, it inspires us, it heals us. This full-circle moment of The Wooden Floor returning to the theater in-person after two years encapsulates all that and more! This concert serves as my first as the Chair of the Board of Directors, and I’m filled with pride by our community’s perseverance, the dedication of our students and staff, and the fierce commitment by supporters like you to ensure we made it to this moment - with our students back in the spotlight where they belong.

All the while, we as an organization did not skip a beat. Between our last concert and now, we embarked on our newest 10-year Strategic Vision (2021-2031) and launched into Chapter 1 (2021-2023) of that vision: Leading with Agility. Strengthening Our Community. As we strategically charted our course for the future, key themes began to take shape, including focusing on the present and sustainability as we emerge from the pandemic. We also take aim at broadening and deepening engagement within our community toward resources, mentoring, volunteerism, and philanthropy.

Our end result for this Strategic Vision is to drive social innovation, grow our impact, and uplift our community. While we’ve only just started this 10-year journey, we continue to witness how dance education and performance are powerful transformational elements through which our young people change the way they think about themselves and develop the ability to reach their full potential. They inspire us.

I am filled with optimism for my term as Chair of the Board of Directors as we stand with strength to accomplish these important goals - together. I encourage you to be a part of this incredible journey. Hope abounds!

Sincerely, We are even more strident today in the hope and the promise we provide for each child: from here you can step anywhere. On behalf of our students, we thank you!

With gratitude,

Theresa Allen

Chair of the Board of Directors, The Wooden Floor The word “possibility” emerged for us this year as our word of intention for 2022. We have been in awe by the unflagging optimism and the future outlook that our students, our families, and our community have as they set their sights on brighter days ahead.

Our 39th Annual Concert performances are a manifestation of this optimism on stage that you will witness through each student’s dedication, originality, and palpable joy. We know that many of the children in our community have been suffering from social, emotional, and academic challenges. We have been working tirelessly, as one community, to ensure that The Wooden Floor’s students emerge from the pandemic with the internal strength to build upon this critical moment in their lives, and use it as a platform for success well into the future.

When Artistic Director Falon Baltzell and I were inspired to create this year’s Annual Concert title Hope Abounds, it was due to the intersectionality of happenings in the organization as students returned to in-person classes and rehearsals with enthusiasm and a longing for connection. Input captured from the Annual Concert rehearsal assistants about the collaborative, co-creation process further elicited our feelings of hope, as did appreciating our courageous Board of Directors and staff who move our mission forward. Furthermore, our loving supporters like you continually fill our hearts with hope, showing your unwavering commitment to ensuring The Wooden Floor maintains high quality and excellence in the programs and outcomes for our students and families, as well as our community.

Dawn S. Reese, CFRE

Chief Executive Officer, The Wooden Floor