Carlota Santana Spanish Dance Company
154 Christopher StreetSuite 3DNew YorkNY10014-2839212-229-9754212-229-1085

Program: Bronx Project Year Started: 1994 Focus: Dance & Humanities Youth Served: 40 Ages: 8-12 Budget: $23,000 The Carlota Santana Spanish Dance Company offers a dance program at Public School 42 (PS 42), a Bronx elementary school. Integrated into the program are all 8- to 12-year-olds who live in a nearby battered women's shelter. These children are enrolled in the dance program to help lessen the burden and stigma of living in a shelter. The children are brought to the school to learn dance as well as to help them feel more comfortable in the school. The comprehensive program covers dance technique and music, as well as Spanish culture, history and geography. Classes are held twice a week for 2 hours after school and are taught by a Company guitarist and dancer who emphasize the development of the children's movement and cognitive skills. "The kids are committed throughout the year. Teachers report that the kids were repeatedly asking when the flamenco was going to begin," says Santana. "It was especially compelling to observe the boys' progress in getting involved in the art form." Performances for seniors are helping to promote an intergenerational understanding among community members. This year the Bronx Project will be offered to more of the school's students, in an effort to provide long-term programming to all the children at PS 42.