A story years in the making

When the Gramercy Park Block Association shared news of the documentary LIFT in June 2022, this was a story many neighbors had already helped to shape. Gramercy’s support for New York Theatre Ballet’s Project LIFT dated to 1989, before the Block Association’s founding.

The film followed Steven Melendez and young dancers over a decade. Its appearance at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival brought wider attention to the sustained training and support behind their performances.

A former student returns to lead

Melendez had been one of LIFT’s earliest students. As a child, he also volunteered for the Block Association, delivering posters to neighborhood buildings. He later danced professionally abroad and with New York Theatre Ballet.

The Block Association’s June newsletter celebrated his appointment as the company’s artistic director. Someone once introduced to ballet through LIFT was now helping guide its future.

Support that continues beyond a scholarship

The same letter returned to Rebecca Seow, whose first year of college Gramercy neighbors had helped fund. After twelve years with NYTB, she graduated from Montclair State University in 2021 with a BFA in Dance Performance.

The Block Association’s support for the wider program included ballet scholarships, school supplies, clothing, holiday gifts and opportunities to attend the summer intensive. During the pandemic, neighbors also supplied laptops so students could attend classes remotely. Those practical contributions help explain why the Block Association’s relationship with LIFT has lasted.

2017

Helping a student take the next step

The Block Association’s June and July 2017 newsletters celebrated Rebecca Seow’s graduation from the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts and supported her planned move to Montclair State University. Neighbors contributed toward her first year of college.

The later 2022 profile, recording her degree and continued connection with dance, gives that earlier effort a follow-through.

Three women stand together beside a window in the photograph accompanying Rebecca Seow’s Project LIFT story.
A photograph from Rebecca Seow’s story in the Block Association’s 2022 Project LIFT update.
Sources

Adapted from the dated Block Association publication below.