Dance For A Cause, a Fundraiser for Blythedale Children's Hospital

Suburbs 101 is proud to partner with Artistry Dance Project and Bloomingdale’s as a media sponsor for Dance For A Cause, a fundraiser for Blythedale Children’s Hospital. We interviewed, Artistry Dance Project’s director, Kristina Leitenberger, to give us more background on how this fundraiser came about. Update: Photos of event.

Dance For A Cause

When: Friday, November 16, 2018 (4pm Reception, 4:30pm and 5:30pm dance classes)

What: Dance Classes for Kids taught by Artistry Dance Project’s director, Kristina Leitenberger. $10 class fee and 10% of purchases at Bloomingdale’s White Plains will benefit Blythedale Children’s Hospital.

Where: Bloomingdale’s White Plains at 175 Bloomingdale Road, White Plains, NY

Tell me more about Dance For A Cause. How did this fundraiser come about?

Dance For A Cause is an exciting brand new event that combines dance and holiday shopping to benefit Blythedale Children’s Hospital.

An extension of our annual Artistry Dance Project Holiday Show, the event will bring together the broader Westchester community to benefit the amazing local children’s hospital.

The new Dance For a Cause event is the natural evolution of our original fundraising efforts. By bringing together the broader Westchester community for a day of dancing and shopping, we hope to continue to grow our charitable donation to Blythedale Children’s Hospital.

Over the past two years Artistry Dance Project Company Dancers have raised over $100,000 for the hospital through our annual Holiday Show. What originally started as fundraising goal of $5,000, has blossomed into a beautiful event that touches so many areas of our community.

The Dance for a Cause event will feature upbeat kids’ dance classes held at Bloomingdale’s White Plains, open to all levels and ages 5-15. Classes will be taught by myself, Artistry Dance Project’s Artistic Director, assisted by two of my senior dancers. The $10 class fee will directly benefit Blythedale Children’s Hospital and 10% of all purchases at Bloomingdale’s White Plains that day will also support the cause.

We are excited to broaden our fundraising efforts through our partnership with Bloomingdale’s to help raise funds and bring more awareness to the amazing work Blythedale Children’s Hospital does on a daily basis.

Is this the first year? If not, how long have you been doing Dance For A Cause?

This is the first year for Dance For A Cause and the third year for the broader Artistry Dance Project Annual Holiday Benefit. We are so excited to see the growth of the event to the broader Westchester community and look forward to continuing the wonderful joint program with Bloomingdale’s for years to come.

Why did you choose to support the Blythedale Children’s Hospital?

Blythedale Children’s Hospital is an absolutely wonderful facility right in our backyard. Growing up in Westchester, I spent time volunteering at the hospital as a teen. As part of earning my Girl Scout silver award, I even hosted a dance show for the patients at Blythedale Children’s Hospital. After the show, we spent the day playing with the children, learning about their programs and how the hospital supports children and their families. Blythedale Children’s Hospital is truly an amazing place. The staff, facility and attention to detail and compassion are all things you can’t help but admire and make you realize how they truly are one of a kind.

Tell me more about your other fundraisers for Blythedale Children’s Hospital?

This is our third fundraiser for Blythedale Children’s Hospital. Our previous fundraising efforts have included fundraising leading up to the Holiday Show by the dancers, followed by silent and live auctions at the actual show itself.

The day includes lives performances by the dancers, food and drinks, a DJ and more. In year one, our goal was to raise $5,000 and we ended up raising $40,000. In year two, we raised another $58,500. So far, we’ve raised over $12,000 this year in fundraising.

We hope to find continued success as we get closer to the event. The most incredible part of this all has been watching the dancers become more and more involved. Our dancers continue to want to give back in the most incredible ways. A few examples that stand out, one dancer donated half of her sweet 16 birthday money to the fundraiser, another one of our younger dancers went and started her own toy drive in conjunction with the fundraiser, we have many of our dancers contacting local establishments asking for donations and auction items and another who started her own jewelry line with all sales profits going back to the hospital. Seeing all of the dancers and their families come together for such a wonderful cause is so heartwarming and important to teach the next generation the value of giving back.

Tell me more about Artistry Dance Project?

Pleasantville, NY based Artistry Dance Project is in its 6th season. Our mission is to create a home for dancers that fosters a sense of community and family, a place where every dancer has a class that feels made just for them. Our amazing professional faculty care about the progress and well-being of each dancer, as they receive the most impeccable training. We love to see our dancers train and grow with us year after year, developing a strong level of confidence and discipline while giving them purpose to chase their dreams in and out of the studio.

You are the director of Artistry Dance Project. Tell me more about yourself.

My name is Kristina Leitenberger. I grew up in Briarcliff Manor before going on to receive my BFA in Jazz Dance Performance from the University of The Arts in Philadelphia. After dancing professionally, I chased my next dream and opened Artistry Dance Project alongside Lori Lynch in 2013 at just 24 years old. My passion for dance has grown and evolved to strive to teach the next generation how amazing dance can be.