Philadelphia Ballet cuts the ribbon on its new N. Broad St. building

Years in the making, after a series of fits and starts that included both a premature groundbreaking and a real one, Philadelphia Ballet’s sparkling new headquarters on North Broad Street officially opened Friday morning.

Ballet leaders and other officials formed a kind of corps de ballet to cut a ribbon in front of the building’s main entrance on Wood Street. A miniperformance by actual dancers in the new black box theater followed, featuring an excerpt from George Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes.

A number of dignitaries were on hand with celebratory words; State Sen. Nikil Saval spoke particularly eloquently about dance and the place of the arts in a “thriving city.”

But it was Louise H. Reed, the stalwart ballet supporter who has seen the company through thick and thin over several decades, who perhaps put it best.

“It’s a miracle,” she said after walking into the building lobby lined with paintings of dancers captured in roles from Giselle, The Prodigal Son, and other works.

The new facility doubles the ballet’s space for rehearsing — including a studio that matches the size of the stage of the Academy of Music, where it often performs — as well as allows for roomier quarters for the school, wardrobe shop, offices and a music library.

“It’s providing everything the dancers and the school needs as well as a way for us to invite people into our home,” said ballet CEO Shelly Power. “That’s our mantra, really making this for the community. This opens a whole new chapter for us, something we couldn’t do before because we didn’t have enough space.”

Leaders say the new facility brings Philadelphia Ballet up to the standards enjoyed by other major American dance companies — a boast heretofore elusive.

“Our dancers and our staff have a building, a space, that matches the quality of the organization,” said Victoria B. Mars, a major donor to the project and, as of the end of this month, the ballet’s new board chairperson. “What they were in before was, I would have used the word kind of unacceptable, for the quality of the company we have. So now we finally have a space where everyone can flourish and everyone can feel that they are supported, that they have the tools they need to perform at their highest level.”

The building may be up, but the work isn’t done. About $36 million has been raised toward the $50 million project (whose budget includes not just construction but also costs like financing and outfitting the building).

The ballet’s development department has been expanded and “over the next year will be working really hard to finish this project off. Hopefully donors will see the impact it has on the city and company and the school,” said Power.

The arrival of the five-story 43,000-square-foot building allowed for the renovation of the ballet’s other building set back from Broad Street. That older structure, which will primarily house the school, has been joined with the new one, giving the group a total of 58,000 square feet.

The company is also entering a new era of leadership. It now has Mars, who follows David F. Hoffman, who headed the board for 13 years. She is former chairperson and director of the board of Mars, one of the largest family-owned corporations in the U.S., whose products include M&Ms, Cheez-Its, Pop-Tarts, Snickers, Life Savers and other snack items, as well as pet food and pet care services.

Mars, 69 — the great-granddaughter of Mars founder Frank C. Mars — said in an interview this week that she was introduced to Philadelphia’s ballet company about a dozen years ago after being seated next to Angel Corella at a dinner party around the time he became artistic director.

“I was inspired by his vision, I was inspired by his commitment and passion for transforming the Philadelphia Ballet into a quality organization that we could all be proud of. And I’ve watched that transition. When I now go to the ballet and when I bring my friends to the ballet, I am proud and inspired by what is being performed.”

Every performance, Mars says, “impresses me, amazes me, and so that passion that Angel has and had at that point in time is what inspired me and has kept me connected.”

Mars — who studied ballet as a child in Paris, holds degrees from Yale and the Wharton School and lives in the Philadelphia area — said that among her goals was increasing philanthropic support for the company.

“I’m talking about everything from government funding to corporate support to contributed revenue coming from foundations, individuals — all the pieces that support the arts.”

The ballet has received $6.7 million in money for the new building from the state.

Part of Philadelphia Ballet’s pitch to funders is the idea of the building as more than a factory for dancers. The group is still planning its slate of public events, but already has scheduled a series of talks about dance; performances to introduce children and families to classical ballet; and master classes for high school students to create their own dance works.

The building also provides space to woo philanthropists by giving them close-up encounters with the art form. Beyond the artistic connection, a significant enticement awaits potential donors. The ballet’s building currently has a generic placeholder name, the Philadelphia Ballet Center for Dance, while it stumps for a gift that would involve a naming opportunity.

“I was inspired by a story, by a person, by a passion,” says Mars. “The building now enables us to bring people into that space and hopefully inspire them in the same way that I was inspired.”