Moscow Ballet is giving back

This is a nice gesture that makes Haglund feel all warm and fuzzy toward the Moscow Ballet which is currently touring smaller venues in the U.S. with it's widely admired production of The Nutcracker.

According to its American publicist, $5 from the price of each ticket sold in a number of cities will be donated to charitable organizations – most of which support animal rescue and animal support groups.  The company made it crystal clear that it had not tacked on an extra $5 to the ticket prices in order to accomplish this generous initiative.  That would be tooooo New York.

In Indianapolis, $5 from each ticket will go to Humane Society of Indianapolis.

In Lakewood, NJ, $5 from each ticket will go to the Associated Humane Societies.

In Denver, $5 from each ticket will go to Colorado Helping Hands Foundation.

In Rosemont, IL, $5 from each ticket will go to Trio Animal Foundation.

In Fairfax, VA, $5 from each ticket will go to INOVA Fairfax Hospital for Children.

In Baltimore, $5 from each ticket will go to the Fuel Fund of Maryland.

In El Paso, $5 from each ticket will go to Animal Rescue League of El Paso.

In St. Petersburg, FL, $5 from each ticket will go Pet Pal Animal Shelter.

In Lakeland, FL, $5 from each ticket will go to the SPCA headquartered in Lakeland.

During the Season of Giving, Haglund is not giving any money to the local big ballet companies because of their boorish, selfish, insensitive behavior over the past year that has done more harm than good to audience and home-grown artists alike.  There are alternative charities that deserve support more and buck-for-buck have a greater positive influence on the community.

For example, here on the Wild West Side of NYC, the Urban Cat League has been helping to take care of the city's homeless cats and feral colonies for a long time.  The organization was started by Mike Phillips who was for many, many years a familiar face in David Howard's morning ballet classes.  He's danced, helped to direct productions for New York City Opera, and is a vet tech.  The Urban Cat League is a 501(c)(3) organization which means your gift is tax deductible.

There are many other very worthy local community organizations that need the help as well.  So, as we open the daily deluge of slick & glossy year-end solicitations from organizations who could behave better, let's think about those more local groups who cannot even afford a year-end appeal or campaign but do much to make a positive difference in our communities.