SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — As Hurricane Maria roared over Puerto Rico in September 2017, Marena Pérez and Aureo Andino hunkered down inside their ballet studio. The couple never imagined that they, their daughter and Pérez’s parents would live there for three months, sleeping on pullout couches and relying on a gas generator.

The Category 4 hurricane flooded Pérez and Andino’s house with 4 feet of water. Unable to return home, the founders and directors of Mauro Ballet decided to open their doors to the community, teaching a free dance class each afternoon.

“It became an oasis for dancers in Puerto Rico,” said Andino. But Mauro Ballet still struggled — the dance company didn’t make money for 18 months.

It survived in part thanks to support from the Flamboyan Arts Fund, a $22 million i

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