Keeping Alabama on its Toes

Keeping Alabama on its Toes

Gilbertown, Ala., is a forever kind of place, where three and four generations might reside barely a stone’s throw from each other.

“If you don’t have family here with a spot of land, you’re out of luck for a place to build,” says longtime resident Marie Donald.

For accomplished performers Fred and Svetlana Kimbrough, Gilbertown, Ala., was not just some little town they spotted on a map. It is where Fred was born and raised.

More than 20 years ago, after a successful career in New York City, Fred and Svetlana opened a whole new avenue to youngsters in and around Gilbertown when they established the Ballet and Theatre Arts School on what had been Fred’s parents’ farm.

Since then, they’ve taken great strides, teaching dance, voice, and acting to the area’s youth—many of whom are underprivileged—in the town once best known as the site of Alabama’s first oil well.

“When we can take someone from this very rural area and go to a state competition and win more awards than any other school in the state, it shows how much talent is here,” Fred says.

Far more rewarding than the applause, Kimbrough says, is the effect that he and Svetlana have had on students.

“Seeing the joy on their faces when they’re in class learning and accomplishing something, or singing a difficult piece of music, it’s just amazing.”

Svetlana couldn’t agree more and says it’s high time the local kids had an opportunity like this.

“There’s so much talent here, but because of lack of funds, often it’s never developed.”

Soon after opening the school, the Kimbroughs formed the Ballet & Theatre Arts Performing Companies, a nonprofit organization that receives grants from such entities as the Alabama Civil Justice Foundation and the Alabama State Council on the Arts. BTAPC enables them to teach many of the surrounding area’s underprivileged children.

“There’s never enough money to reach those you’d like to reach,” says Svetlana, “so it’s wonderful when a grant comes in.”

Support also comes from “angels” closer to home who donate up to $100 per year.

As a product of southeast Alabama, Fred knew firsthand about the arts situation, or rather, the lack thereof. After high school, he went to Mobile to study acting, then embarked on a career in New York City, where he found television work and performed on Broadway. While they were pursuing careers, Fred met and married a beautiful dancer named Svetlana, the daughter of a Lithuanian father and Russian ballerina mother.

Though they had studied and worked with some of the world’s greatest talents, Gilbertown was never far from Fred’s mind. “I always remembered how they were so without the arts and wanted to change that,” he says. “For me, one of the great joys in the world is to be involved in the arts.” His enthusiasm helped persuade Svetlana their future should include Gilbertown.

“I had to twist her arm a little,” he laughs.

At their school, the Kimbroughs stress discipline and technique. “Our goal is not the annual recital,” says Svetlana. “We believe you have to have a technique to be good at anything.” As a result, students also benefit in other areas; many achieve better scholastic grades because of improved concentration. And like 11-year-old Brittany Bolden, they become confident enough to reach for the stars.

“I like coming to ballet classes because they’re fun,” she says. “I would like to go to New York one day and show them some of my dances and stuff.”

A child’s involvement in the arts also can give parents occasional leverage. Said one boy’s mother: “I told him if he doesn’t keep his grades up, he can’t go back to Mr. K’s class. So I have no problems.”

Many students go on to college and major in the arts, something the Kimbroughs find very rewarding.

Besides providing scholarships, BTAPC hosts guest artists such as concert pianist Julian Martin and the Alabama Ballet in its on-site theater. The organization also presents at least four major productions annually. Everyone pitches in—Svetlana sews costumes, and community members help build props and sets. Anyone can audition for a role, and the resulting performances often astonish audiences.

The couple still is surprised at the number of people who say a BTAPC production is the first live stage performance they’ve ever seen. But it confirms they’re achieving their goals—to involve more people in the arts. After seeing Fiddler on the Roof, one patron told them: “My wife had to drag me here, but she won’t have to drag me anymore, because I’m coming to everything y’all do from now on.”

That’s music to the Kimbroughs’ ears.

Alice Ross writes from her home in Locust Valley, N.Y.

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