Ballet Studio Transports Urban Kids to Another World

The Sugarplum Fairy, sweat glistening on her brow, performed the same sequence of steps over and over across the polished wood floor, looking by turns euphoric and miserable. Sprawled next to the piano stretching their legs, the Garcia sisters watched and waited for their chance to dance.

The four girls, ages 6 to 15, make the long car trek each afternoon from their home in South Los Angeles to this tiny dance studio in Silver Lake. Their father, who works all night delivering newspapers, drives them and then waits through their two hours of class.

The City of Angels Ballet offers free classical ballet training, along with pink satin shoes and fabulous costumes, to hundreds of children from some of the city's toughest neighborhoods. This year, the program received $10,000 from the Times Holiday Campaign, part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund, and will use the money to do more outreach to public schools in poor neighborhoods.

For the students, the tiny studio is a portal to ballet's magical world of princesses, French words and pink tights -- a place where hard work and endless repetition can transport body and soul into an unimagined realm.

“It takes my mind off things," said Maria Garcia, 15. “It's a passion." Her sister Marbella, 13, nodded, and the sisters smiled as they rose for their turn to dance.

Outside, waiting parents beamed when asked about the program. “It makes me feel joy," Angel Cabrera said of the sight of his 8-year-old daughter, Neida, dancing.

The company is the project of Mario Nugara, a former professional ballet dancer who 15 years ago embarked on a quixotic quest to create a not-for-profit ballet academy and company that would serve the children of South Los Angeles and the Eastside.