Bronx Dance Theatre
286 E. 204 StreetBronxNY10467
718-652-7655718-798-0161

Program: Bronx Dance Theatre Year Started: 1976 Focus: Dance Youth Served: 500 Ages: 4-20 Budget: $530,000 The Bronx Dance Theatre is using dance to teach life skills and provide professional arts training. The students, most of whom come to the program with no experience, begin by taking classes in modern dance and ballet. Those who show commitment are eligible for scholarships and reduced tuition fees and are offered the opportunity to join 100 of their peers in an intensive program of instruction, which includes classes four to five times per week. These students take prescribed courses, specifically structured to their individual levels, in ballet, jazz, tap and modern dance; acrobatics and choreography. If the students miss a class, they are called; if they begin having trouble meeting their commitments, the staff meets with their parents or guardians. The students perform 12-24 times a year. The performances teach cooperation, independence, persistence and quick response. The directors stress the relationship between these principles in dance and in life. When youth are ready to enter high school, the Bronx Dance Theatre teaches them what will be expected of them in both the interview and, if applicable, the performance competition. "We have established ourselves as a place where a child can achieve," explains Director Neil Goldstein. "Our children have had tremendous success both in the field of performing arts and personally, because we are not just a dance program. Our holistic approach uses the discipline required in the performing arts to prepare the kids to acquire the skills necessary to become productive adults." Recently the Bronx Dance Theatre received funding from the New York Board of Education to start a public school based on dance.