YVONNE MOUNSEY TO RECEIVE ADVANCEMENT OF THE ARTS AWARD
Founder, Director of “Westside Ballet” and Former NYC Ballet Principle Dancer Honored For Her Distinguished Career and Contributions to Inner City Kids’ Non-Profit Dance Program

Los Angeles, CA (May, 2008) – Yvonne Mounsey, founder and director of Santa Monica’s prestigious “Westside Ballet,” one of the leading ballet schools and training companies in the United States, is being honored this month for a distinguished professional dance career that has spanned seven decades and at least four continents.

Ms. Mounsey will be honored by the Gabriella Axelrad Education Foundation, a non-profit organization which provides over 100 weekly dance classes at a $5 monthly cost to over 1,000 inner-city Los Angeles children. The award will be presented at the Foundation’s “8th Annual Event,” to be held on May 31 at 8 p.m. at UCLA’s Northwest Campus Auditorium.

Mounsey, 88, originally from South Africa, has been dancing professionally since she was 19. She joined New York City Ballet in 1938 as a principal dancer for George Balanchine after performing with Massine’s Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and de Basil’s original Ballet Russe. In 1968, she founded Westside Ballet, customarily considered the best ballet school in Los Angeles.  Its graduates, including Melissa Barak, formerly of New York City Ballet, and Andrew Veyette, principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, have gone on  to careers with the country’s top ballet companies.

Gabriella Axelrad Education Foundation is an inner-city non-profit that has for years provided free, quality dance training to thousands of underserved Los Angeles children through its program, “everybody dance!.”  The “Los Angeles Times” described its dance faculty as “some of the best children’s dance instructors in the world”; its students have gone on to prestigious schools (Juilliard) and to win prestigious awards in the dance field (Los Angeles Music Center “Spotlight Award,” among others). The Foundation also operates the award-winning Gabriella Charter School, serving 152 children, grades K-5. All students receive one hour of daily dance instruction and dance is integrated into a standard curriculum.

Gabriella Axelrad Education Foundation was established in memory of Gabriella Axelrad, a 13-year-old who loved to dance. 

Since its inception, Westside Ballet has been a strong supporter of everybody dance!  Both Mounsey and other Westside Ballet teachers have taught master classes for the program, raised funds for the non-profit and each year hosted large contingents  of everybody dance! students at Westside Ballet’s renowned annual performances of “The Nutcracker” ballet.

Mounsey shares, “I’m honored to serve their marvelous organization in any way that I can.”

Honored alongside Mounsey at Gabriella Axelrad Education Foundation’s “8th Annual Event” will be renowned tap dancer Arthur Duncan (“The Lawrence Welk Show”) with the Gregory Hines Humanitarian Award; the Lynn-Soodik-Stephan Wasserman Family with the Founders Award; and actress/dancer Jenna Dewan (“Step Up” and “Take the Lead”) with the Limelight Award.

Yvonne Mounsey lives in Brentwood, CA.

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