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The Gabriella Axelrad Education Foundation was
established in December, 1999 by family and friends in
memory of Gabriella Axelrad, a 13–year old who loved to
dance. It was the hope of Gabri's family and friends that
under−served Los Angeles children might
receive the same joy
and benefits from dance that Gabri had in her short life.
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In May, 2000, the Foundation's
dance program, everybody
dance!,opened its doors in a
low−income housing project just
west of downtown. The program
started with 35 students in 12
weekly classes. Demand for dance
classes was so intense, however,
that the program was forced to
keep adding classes and
establishing wait lists. There are
now over 1000 students enrolled in
150 weekly dance classes in ballet,
tap, jazz, hip- hop and modern at
three state−of−the−art dance
studios in the Pico−Union, Rampart
and Koreatown communities of Los
Angeles.
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In 2005, the Foundation opened a dance −themed
public
elementary charter school – one of the first such schools in
the United States. Gabriella
Charter Schoolstudents study
dance one hour each day and dance is infused into the
standards−based curriculum.
With the help and support of many individuals and
organizations, The Gabriella Axelrad Education
Foundation, through its programs everybody dance!and
the Gabriella Charter School, is giving Los Angeles'
underserved children a chance to expand their potential and
broaden their horizons through the arts. Both school and
dance programs strive to instill in our students a love of
learning, dance and the arts, while increasing their chances
for a productive future.
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