The Little Ballet Theatre, a non-profit scholarship foundation, awarded twenty individual dance scholarships in 1996 to provide summer workshop training and two academic scholarships to graduating seniors. The amount totaled $6,500. The Little Ballet Theatre focuses on presenting the opportunity for area citizens to enjoy ballet performances. Astoria and the North Coast received nationwide acclaim when the NBC Today television program featured the Little Ballet Theatre along with Mikhail Baryshnikov in a tribute to the long standing tradition and magic of the Nutcracker Ballet.