Ballet Hispánico School of Dance announces that registration is still open for its 2022-23 school year programs, for dancers from early childhood through young adult. The registration deadline is October 3, 2022. For more information and to register, visit ballethispanico.org/school.

 

Ballet Hispánico's School of Dance is the direct link to the organization's values of access, opportunity, and pride for all students interested in dance and Latinx culture. The School is an accredited training center that leads with a holistic curriculum for today's young dancer.

 

Los Pasitos: Early Childhood Program (Ages 2-5)

Los Pasitos Early Childhood Program is for ages 2-5 merges creativity, cultures, and technique. Its curriculum focuses on developing coordination, spatial awareness, and musicality, with an emphasis on each child's individual self-expression. Students learn proper dance etiquette, explore the wide spectrum of Latino cultures, and build a solid foundation for dance training in a joyful, creative environment.

 

Encuentros: Open Class Program (Ages 6-18)

Providing the young dance enthusiast with cultural enrichment alongside excellent dance training, the Encuentros Program offers something for everyone. Developed with the highest level of artistic excellence, our program supports dancers interested in taking anywhere from one to multiple dance classes per week. Offering a wide array of classes including Ballet, Flamenco, Hip-Hop, Latin Rhythms, Afro-Caribbean, Salsa, Jazz, and Tap, our students can create a tailored schedule to fit their needs.

 

La Academia: Pre-Professional Program (Ages 7-23)

The School's pre-professional division, La Academia, trains eclectic, versatile dancers who stand out in a competitive field of dance for their mastery of the classical ballet tradition, contemporary techniques, Spanish Dance, and performance skills. This program is designed to support students interested in attending performing arts schools, conservatory/university programs, and/or those pursuing a career in dance. High school and college-aged students that reach Level 5 in La Academia have the option of pursuing the full curriculum or one of three specialized tracks—ballet, Spanish dance, or contemporary.

 

About Ballet Hispánico

Ballet Hispánico has been the leading voice intersecting artistic excellence and advocacy and is now the largest Latinx cultural organization in the United States and one of America's Cultural Treasures. Ballet Hispánico brings communities together to celebrate and explore Latino cultures through innovative dance productions, transformative dance training, and enduring community engagement experiences.

 

National Medal of Arts recipient Tina Ramirez (1929-2022) founded Ballet Hispánico in 1970, at the height of the post-war civil rights movements. From its inception Ballet Hispánico focused on providing a haven for Black and Brown Latinx youth and families seeking artistic place and cultural sanctuary. By providing the space for Latinx dance and dancers to flourish, Ballet Hispánico uplifted marginalized emerging and working artists, which combined with the training, authenticity of voice, and power of representation, fueled the organization's roots and trajectory. In 2009, Ballet Hispánico welcomed Eduardo Vilaro as its Artistic Director, ushering in a new era by inserting fresh energy to the company's founding values and leading Ballet Hispánico into an artistically vibrant future. Today, Ballet Hispánico's New York City headquarters house a School of Dance and state-of-the-art dance studios for its programs and the arts community. From its grassroots origins as a dance school and community-based performing arts troupe, for fifty years Ballet Hispánico has stood as a catalyst for social change.

 

Ballet Hispánico provides the physical home and cultural heart for Latinx dance in the United States. Ballet Hispánico has developed a robust public presence across its three main programs: its Company, School of Dance, and Community Arts Partnerships.

 

Through its exemplary artistry, distinguished training program, and deep-rooted community engagement efforts Ballet Hispánico champions and amplifies underrepresented voices in the field. For fifty years Ballet Hispánico has provided a place of honor for the omitted, overlooked, and oppressed. As it looks to the next fifty years and beyond, Ballet Hispánico seeks to empower, and give agency to, the Latinx experience and those individuals within it.