Photos: After powerful city council presentation, Tampa City Ballet raises funds at black-tie gala

Paul Nuñez at Palma Ceia Country Club in Tampa, Florida on Sept. 18, 2026. Credit: Dave Decker / Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

Tampa City Ballet’s roots go all the way back to 2002 when founder Paula Nuñez and her husband opened her dance studio in New Tampa with just three students.

On Sept. 17 at city hall, Nuñez, a Venezuelan immigrant who’s been in the Bay area for 24 years, was at Tampa City Council presenting her vision for the future of dance in Tampa.

“At the center of everything we do is Tampa, its people, its history, and its future,” Nuñez said, reminding councilmembers and the chamber that artists need to be able to train in the Bay area, perform, and live.

Two dozen years after founding the company, TCB has seen its students go on to American Ballet Theater, Hamburg Ballet, Houston Ballet, Orlando, and Ballet X. TCB now produces more than 20 performances each season across 15 venues; 30% of the performances are free and open to the public.

But Nuñez said the kind of training available at Tampa City Ballet cannot be reserved for families that can afford it.

“Talent has not to do with a family’s income or a zip code,” she told city council, adding that through collaboration with the Prodigy Cultural Arts Program and Mort Elementary, TCB has brought free after-school ballet classes directly into Title 1 schools “Our goal is to have 300 students in the Hillsborough County Public School System enroll in free ballet classes within the next two years.”

The night after Nuñez’s presentation to city council, Tampa City Ballet staged a black-tie “An Evening in the Secret Garden” gala and auction at Palma Ceia Golf & Country Club.

On Oct. 2, TCB will devote a night of dance to relief and rebuilding efforts in Venezuela, and on select nights between Oct. 3-17, the company will stage “La Septima,” a story about Ybor City that finds TCB taking over four stories of the Cuban Club.

All photos by Dave Decker