Lebanon — City Center Ballet has received $15,000 from the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation.

The Hanover-based foundation has also challenged the ballet to raise $10,000, which it will then match, according to a news release from the ballet.

City Center Ballet is very grateful to the Byrne Foundation, a “generous supporter” of the Lebanon-based ballet, for its dedicated support and the opportunity to bring more awareness of the art form to the Upper Valley, the release said.

The dance company’s performances feature young local artists, who receive “life-changing opportunities” to perform with professional dancers from around the country.

Over the past five years, it’s added productions such as Clara’s Dream, a nutcracker story; Giselle;Alice in Wonderland, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, performances known for their “technical accomplishment, beautiful representation of the art of ballet, and stunning costumes and scenery,” the release said. Each represents a substantial investment.

“The labor of love, and cost in dollars, of putting on these performances is daunting, but the outcome is worth the effort, for the performers as well as the communities they grace with their beauty,” said Linda Copp, the ballet’s artistic director.

City Center Ballet’s production of Cinderella is set for May 5-7.

— Staff report