I am fundraising for Ozark Ballet Theater because, if I grew up in Northwest Arkansas I never would have become a dancer. I never would have had the opportunity to even know it was an option. We can't miss what we can't measure but I can measure how ballet has improved my own life. I therefore mourn for the artists who could have been but never got the chance, and pledge my unwavering commitment to give as many kids as possible the opportunities I was given by a program very much like Ozark Ballet Theater's.

We are so lucky to get to do what we do. Such a tiny minority of people get the opportunity to express themselves with Art. It is extremely likely that the greatest artistic minds in all of history never had a chance to explore their own potential because they had to watch their siblings while their single-parent worked at the chicken plant in the evenings, or they worked in the family business so their family could make ends meet, or they simply didn't live somewhere with access to the vocational, lifelong education it can take to flourish as an artist. I am doing this for the dancers that never were. I hope you'll join me!