Four Malibu families among 44 at the school receive assistance from the dance community
Coming off successful performances of “The Nutcracker” in December, Westside School of Ballet in Santa Monica had just a moment to relax before gearing up for their next big performance in the spring. Then, on Jan. 7, life was turned upside down when the Palisades Fire tore through the community that many of the dancers call home. More than 70 dancers with the Los Angeles area’s oldest and most successful public ballet school lost their homes, including the school’s artistic director and a young Malibu dancer recently profiled in The Malibu Times.
After TMT previewed the company’s performance of “The Nutcracker” and the debut of one of its newest dancers, 11-year-old Olivia Legowiecki, Artistic Director Martine Harley, also interviewed by TMT, learned the two lived just a few doors apart in Sunset Mesa. Unfortunately, Harley and Olivia lost their homes along with 42 other families from Westside Ballet.
This past weekend, the ballet community gathered at the school to help their fellow dancers who lost all of their possessions. Ballerina Brittany Cavaco and The Ballet Agency hosted a dancewear drive for dancers affected by the fire. Cavaco and Westside’s fire relief volunteers collected more than $30,000 in new dancewear to distribute. Adult and children dancers received dance gear bags with leotards, tights, pointe shoes, and ballet slippers. “Everything that a dancer would need and it’s all free to the dancers. It’s really extraordinary,” Harley said.
Harley, who’s been associated with the school for nearly five decades and artistic director since 2013, recalled her experience on Jan. 7: “Oh, my goodness, the smoke and flames were visible from our neighborhood and everybody received the emergency warning on our cellphones to evacuate immediately, so we did. We grabbed a few things, my sister and I, and evacuated and that was the last we saw of our home that we’ve been in since 1968.”
That home Harley grew up in was filled with warm memories and irreplaceable mementos from her career, including 24 years as a critically acclaimed soloist with the Houston Ballet. “It was filled with things that you can’t get again that have so much sentimental value, but that’s true of everyone who has lost their home,” she said.
The owner of Westside Ballet, Allegra Clegg, along with another teacher, were among the 70 associated with the school to also lose their homes.
Even though Harley has been displaced to Simi Valley, she’s still driving into Santa Monica for Westside Ballet, and she’s now focused on the future. But she’s grateful for the bond she’s formed with the dance community who’ve rallied around her and the others affected by the fire.
“They donated clothes, beauty products, sunscreen, jackets, to hair dryers, pajamas, and toothbrushes. It was an overwhelming amount of generosity from so many of the families at Westside,” she said. These immediate need donations came from Westside families right after the fire and well before the dancewear drive of the past weekend.
“I’m incredibly grateful for all of the love and support and the way everybody has come together,” Harley said. “Even the parents who have to relocate with their children. Even they are being so supportive and saying how grateful they are for the Westside ballet community. They took care in the beginning to make bags full of things for the children and all of our dancers. We have students that were going to graduate from [Palisades] High who lost their school and their home and everything and had to relocate many miles away and the parents were just saying how grateful they are for the Westside ballet community, and all the families that got together to take care of each other. It’s really been extraordinary and moving.”
As she looks forward, Harley cites the old showbiz maxim “the show must go on.” And it is for Westside Ballet. The company is rehearsing for its spring showcase and fundraising gala featuring the masterful choreography of August Bournonville and other famous choreographers. Performances are scheduled at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica for May 31 and June 1.
