Kindness of strangers has performers dancing in the street

Kindness of strangers has performers dancing in the street: IN ONE of the most exhilarating projects to mark its 50th anniversary, the Australian Ballet last month transported 74 dancers, eight shipping containers, 52 staff and 650 costumes to New York to strut their stuff on the world's biggest stage.

It was an expensive project made possible thanks only to the support from private donors and a couple of corporate sponsors, said the Australian Ballet's executive director, Valerie Wilder.

''Philanthropy has a lot of promise and that is why we have been at the forefront [in Australia] of investing in it,'' Ms Wilder said.

The Australian Ballet is one of many perform