BBT's First Step program expands thanks to Vegso Family Foundation's support

First Step teaching assistant Oliva Shoffner and this year’s First Step students.

Since its inception in 1999, Boca Ballet Theatre’s First Step program has served children in our community through dance classes that provide a positive learning environment and an outlet for creative self-expression. Since 2006, the First Step program has been sponsored by Vegso Family Foundation, whose generous support ensures free transportation, dance wear, and dance shoes for all participants.

This year, BBT is thrilled to announce that Vegso Family Foundation’s support has allowed for the expansion of the First Step program to host not only the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County but the Boca Raton Housing Authority as well! Classes will now be held four days a week, exposing participants to ballet and modern dance in the supportive environment created by BBT’s dedicated faculty members.

First Step has been led by long-time BBT faculty member Dennis Lue, who brings his extensive background in the professional dance world and his passion for community outreach to this impactful local program. This year, Dennis is joined by BBT instructor Kassi Abreu, whose teaching experience includes service as Academy Director at Boynton Beach Community High School and work with YoungArts’s community outreach programming. Teaching assistant Oliva Shoffner, a current BBT student, also provides children in the program with inspiration and support as a role model in the studio.

We are so proud of this program and the difference it’s made in children’s lives over the past 25 years! We are grateful to the Vegso Family Foundation for its continued support and to the instructors whose leadership has made the program so impactful. Learn more about the First Step program and how you can support it in the link below!

Photos by Silvia Pangaro.