In 2004, NTC Foundation imagined a place where dance would come alive. In December 2006, the dream was realized with the opening of Dance Place, San Diego’s first building created specifically for dance. The 20,000-square-foot former Navy classroom building provides San Diego a collaborative and creative home that helps strengthen an already vibrant dance sector. The Arts District Liberty Station dance community, friends and supporters recently gathered to celebrate this 10-year milestone and mark it by officially dedicating the building to Dorothea Laub in honor of her passion for dance. Conrad Wear, representing Councilmember Lorie Zapf, and NTC Foundation board chair Lorie Fleet-Martin, helped unveil a permanent plaque designating the building Dorothea Laub Dance Place. The celebration was attended by nearly 75 dance lovers, including noted long-time dance supporter Danah Fayman. Twice a week, you’ll find 89-year-old Dottie Laub tapping away in dance class in Liberty Station. Her love and support for dance in San Diego was what inspired the board of directors of NTC Foundation to select Dance Place as the building most deserving of being named in her honor for her philanthropic support to the foundation. Formerly a Navy classroom building, it is now home to three professional dance companies including Jean Isaacs San Diego Dance Theater, Malashock Dance, and San Diego Ballet, as well as countless other classes and workshops ranging anywhere from tap to flamenco. This collaboration is a founding principle that helped Dance Place become the center for advancing dance in San Diego. All three founding dance companies presented performances and as a special touch, San Diego Ballet presented a surprise performance by Chelsy Meiss Fain, a former San Diego Ballet Company dancer and now soloist with National Ballet of Canada. Meiss Fain trained at Dance Place and is a favorite of Dottie’s. “In 2004, we imagined a place with dance schools for young children and aspiring professionals and a place where professional companies could create and rehearse,” said NTC Foundation executive director Alan Ziter. “We are proud to have created a home for artists to meet, exchange ideas and interact with the public. Dorothea Laub Dance Place is a place where individual artistic vision can take root,” he said.