And our journey begins...
2013
Our first production, The Wiz, AbunDantly, to a sold-out audience in Brooklyn.
Karisma Jay founded AbunDance Academy of the Arts with the mentorship of Ms. Cheryl, former Artistic Director of Full of Energy School of Dance.
AbunDance Academy became the first Black-Owned Non-Profit Arts Organization to produce an Original Production, "Annie, AbunDantly" at the Prestigious KINGS Theatre, written and directed by Ms. Karisma Jay. “Annie, AbunDantly” at KINGS Theatre, an original adaptation where orphan Annie grew up to become the first female Black president.
2014
2015
2016
Ms. Karisma competed in the 6th Annual Stars of New York Dance Competition and Won! As a result, she won $5000 in Dance scholarships for select students of AbunDance Academy.
2017
“Sister Act, AbunDantly” at KINGS Theatre, where Deloris, a headlining performer returned to her hometown of Brooklyn to keep her school from closing.
We were featured in Family Circle and Ms. Karisma was named a "Local Hero". Ms. Karisma was also featured on LifeTime TV as an Entrepreneur to Watch.
Launched a GoFundMe to raise money for our Relocation Fund and we successfully raised $50,000 which went directly to securing and buildout of our new location.
2018
Moved to our new location, 90 Sullivan Place. With three dance studios, three bathrooms, a backyard space, and store-front window display, Ms.Karisma’s aspiration, for all of her students to soar and be free to explore their creativity, began materializing ten-fold.
2019
Premiered “Us, AbunDantly an original production written by Ms. Karisma Jay which celebrated people of the Diaspora and their Rich History.
Launched our first International Summer Arts Exchange. AbunDance In Bahamas brought 12 AbunDance students to Nassau, Bahamas, where we hosted a weeklong Summer Arts Intensive in partnership with 4 Bahamian studios. Simultaneously, 10 select Bahamian students traveled to Brooklyn and participated in our Bahamas in Brooklyn Weeklong Summer arts intensive at our facility.
2020
2022
Hosted our Annual End of Year Student Showcase Virtually. Alongside 1000 virtual Audience members, we screened “Quaroutines, AbunDantly” and raised $15,000 from the parents and community at large, towards Arts Programming.
Prior to our city's stay at home order, we were offering 20+ weekly classes at our new arts facility. In the heart of Brooklyn, we were HOME to many students from varying socio-economic backgrounds and underserved communities. Our students vary in age from 2 - 82, with our babies and seasoned seniors being a core part of our program. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we closed our doors for two years and all in-person classes were cancelled until further notice. Since March 2020, we started offering virtual classes in order to provide a small sense of normalcy for our students as well as a continued source of income for our teachers. We added additional virtual fitness and wellness classes for Free to our new global community to ensure our clients stay safe and active during this crucial time. We hosted community meetings/forums virtually to provide a safe space for our community to share resources and concerns and we also make phone calls to our seasoned seniors to provide them with access to necessities and additional support whether it be food dropped off or a listening ear. To date, we have hosted 700+ virtual/in-person classes. For our community, we have been at the forefront of implementing a virtual component to our business and we have graciously been able to maintain momentum during this unprecedented time.
2023
AbunDance Academy launched its "Dance with AbunDance" Arts In Education in PS 11 (Clinton Hill, Brooklyn).