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Beth Brier is one of 23 Pinellas County artists awarded a $1,000 grant for the 2008 year by the Pinellas Arts Council.
Brier is artistic director of a dance and circus arts training facility located in Clearwater, the only facility in the U.S. that offers both of these disciplines. Brier’s mission is to create a successful meld of the two entities. Her grant monies will enable her further training to help establish organization, build her teaching staff, and expand choreography skills for her Clearwater facility.
Currently, the advanced students from her school, Dance & Circus Arts of Tampa Bay, perform locally every Saturday night at Casa Tina’s Mexican Restaurant in downtown Dunedin.
“This is a wonderful opportunity that Tina and Javier (owners of Casa Tina’s) have provided for our more advanced students. Not only do the students get to do what they love, they are also learning life lessons with their responsibilities in the working world, building their work ethic and presenting themselves professionally,” Brier said.
Brier’s own daughter Catie, a trained dancer, “ran away to join the circus” at age 16. She is now a professional contortionist/dancer in the San Francisco Bay area and performs throughout the U.S.
Brier found the only formal training available for circus arts was in the San Francisco Bay area. This was the catalyst that initiated her journey to build her own facility for local children.
For more information go to www.danceandcircusarts.com or call 727-461-0098.
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