METROPOLITAN SCHOOL OF THE ARTS RAISES $8,000 for BLACK BOX THEATRE PROJECT in ALEXANDRIA, VA.

Metropolitan School of the Arts (MSA) raised $8,000 at their second Annual Benefit Concert to go toward construction of their Black  Box Theatre project in Alexandria, Va. MSA is working toward a fundraising goal of $100,000 to complete the theatre project. Visit www.metropolitanarts.org for more information.

Metropolitan Youth Ballet, Metropolitan Youth Tap Ensemble and iMpulse Jazz Ensemble performed at the concert at the George Washington National Memorial in Alexandria, Va., hosted by FOX 5’s anchor, Annie Yu.

“We are so grateful to the community for helping our dance companies get closer to our goal of building our Black Box Theatre,” said Melissa Dobbs, presidents of the Metropolitan School of the Arts in Alexandria and Lorton, Va.

The 200-seat Black Box Theater will be a part of the Metropolitan School of the Arts studios in Alexandria, Va. When completed, the state-of-the-art black box theater will be designed specifically for dance company performances. It will be one of the few performance spaces in Northern Virginia available to stage and perform dance work in an intimate and appropriate setting.

Founder and president, Melissa Dobbs, was classically trained at Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, George Mason University and the Royal Academy of Dance in London, where she became a registered teacher. Noted for its world-class instructors, MSA offers high quality performing arts training in a ground breaking, holistic learning environment that cultivates creativity, builds community and empowers students.

ABOUT METROPOLITAN SCHOOL OF THE ARTS (MSA):
Lorton, Va.-based, Metropolitan School of the Arts (MSA) is the first Washington, D.C. area, private, secondary performing arts school, founded in 2013 by Melissa Dobbs. The MSA performing arts studios in Alexandria and Lorton, Va. have taught dance, music and theater to more than 10,000 students since 2001. Noted for its world-class instructors, MSA offers high quality performing arts training in a ground breaking, holistic learning environment that cultivates creativity, builds community and empowers students. The organization was featured in Dance Teacher magazine, FOX 5 Morning News, WUSA9, Northern Virginia Magazine, Washington Business Journal and Washington Families magazine. Many students from MSA studios go on to perform in prestigious arenas including Broadway, National Tours, The Julliard School, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The Washington Ballet, The American Academy of Ballet, Universal Ballet Academy, The Kirov Ballet, The Hartt School, Marymount University (New York), Ford’s Theater and Mark Morris Dance Company. MSA offers a performing arts school, two performing arts studios, a youth tap ensemble, a youth ballet, a jazz company, community theatre program, as well as MetroClub and MetroRide, as part of their arts-focused, after-school program. Call 703.339.0444 or visit www.metropolitanarts.org, Facebook or Twitter.