HIT Entertainment's Angelina Ballerina™ Teams up With Dizzy Feet Foundation to Bring Dance to Young Children

LAS VEGAS, June 8 /PRNewswire/ -- International Licensing Show – HIT Entertainment and the Dizzy Feet Foundation are pleased to announce that Angelina Ballerina™ will be lending her support to extend the Foundation's mission of helping children nationwide pursue their dancing dreams.  Through the partnership, the Angelina Ballerina Stars of Tomorrow dance program – successfully piloted by HIT Entertainment at the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club in Bronx, New York, earlier this year – will be expanded to additional Boys & Girls Clubs locations across the nation.  As part of the partnership, scholarships will be awarded on both a regional and national level to assist outstanding young performers in advancing toward their dance education goals.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100608/NY16309 )

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100608/NY16309 )

Dizzy Feet Foundation board members – including "So You Think You Can Dance" and "American Idol" producer Nigel Lythgoe, director Adam Shankman, "Dancing with the Stars" judge Carrie Ann Inaba, and Katie Holmes – will guide and support the Angelina Ballerina Stars of Tomorrow campaign. Foundation choreographers will collaborate on developing training and dance techniques for the Boys & Girls Clubs programs.  Additionally, select Dizzy Feet board members and steering committee members will make appearances at participating Clubs throughout the year to view the progress of the young dancers as well as appear in PSAs to run during the Angelina Ballerina The Next Steps television series airing nationally on PBS KIDS®.

Pam Westman, Executive Vice President, The Americas, HIT Entertainment said, "Working with Dizzy Feet, the Angelina Ballerina Stars of Tomorrow program will accomplish Angelina Ballerina's mission of encouraging young dancers to reach for their dreams.  We are extremely proud to launch this partnership so that more children can experience the joys of dance through dance education."  

The Angelina Ballerina Stars of Tomorrow program will roll out to at least three additional cities by Fall 2010.  Four local dance scholarships, as well as one national Angelina Ballerina Stars of Tomorrow scholarship will be awarded annually to outstanding young dancers.

"When we were approached by HIT Entertainment, we felt a partnership with Angelina Ballerina was a natural fit," said Nigel Lythgoe, co-founder of Dizzy Feet. "Together, we can extend our efforts to help children achieve their dreams to dance."

About Angelina Ballerina™

Angelina Ballerina, a beloved publishing property for close to three decades, is a little star with big dreams of becoming a prima ballerina.  This feisty little mouse works hard to reach her goals and along the way, always learns from her mistakes. When little girls share in Angelina's experiences, they're inspired to go after their big dreams too.  In addition to the critically acclaimed story books created by Katharine Holabird and Helen Craig, Angelina Ballerina dances her way into the hearts of young girls on PBS KIDS® in the CG-animated series, Angelina Ballerina The Next Steps.  Angelina Ballerina The Next Steps is a production of HIT Entertainment and THIRTEEN for WNET.ORG in association with Nickelodeon U.K. Limited.  For more information about Angelina Ballerina, please visit www.angelinaballerina.com.  

About the Dizzy Feet Foundation

Dizzy Feet Foundation was founded in 2009 by producer Nigel Lythgoe, director Adam Shankman, "Dancing with the Stars" judge Carrie Ann Inaba and actress Katie Holmes, among others, to help underprivileged young people realize their dream of becoming professional dancers and to support, improve, and increase access to dance education in the United States. Dizzy Feet Foundation also sponsors, funds, and offers community-based dance programs that expose kids in low-income areas to the lifelong benefits of dance education. Dizzy Feet Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

About HIT Entertainment

HIT Entertainment is one of the world's leading independent children's entertainment producers and rights-owners. HIT's portfolio includes properties, such as Barney™, Bob the Builder™, Thomas & Friends™, Pingu™, Fireman Sam™, Angelina Ballerina™ and Rainbow Magic™. HIT represents Chapman Entertainment's Fifi and the Flowertots™ and Roary the Racing Car™ in North America, as well as Wallace & Gromit™, Shaun the Sheep™, Timmy Time™ and Aardman Classics from Aardman Animations.  HIT also acts as representative for The Wiggles® in the UK. Launched in 1989, HIT's lines of business span television and video production, content distribution, publishing, consumer products licensing and live events and has operations in the UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan.   HIT is a part-owner of US-based preschool channel, PBS KIDS Sprout(SM), and international preschool channel JimJam, (outside of the US, UK and China). For more information, visit www.hitentertainment.com.

To download artwork, please visit www.hitnewsonline.com.

SOURCE HIT Entertainment