BALLETROX INC
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Mission Statement
BalletRox was founded in 1992 to offer opportunities to communities in Boston that were lacking access to the arts. BalletRox programs helps students increase dance skills, as well as important life skills which lead to increased self-efficacy. Our creative youth development model of dance education encourages youth and family involvement, and our programs have always been supported by strong community and school partners. We are working closely with the Greater Boston community in an effort to help integrate arts, specifically dance, into our schools and the lives of underserved youth. We collaborate with local schools to provide students with complimentary dance experiences through in-school programming in Boston Public Schools and after-school at BalletRox Dance!, community dance program. BalletRox has grown into a treasured community resource.
About This Cause
BalletRox is a small arts organization, with a vibrant and culturally diverse staff of teaching artists, reaching underserved youth and families of Boston in the public schools and in the community, through both classical and culturally relevant dance instruction, performance, and creative youth development. Goal #1: BalletRox Contributes to a Vibrant Arts Community BalletRox is a collaborative organization, working closely with like-minded nonprofits and cultural organizations to strengthen the infrastructure necessary for Boston arts and culture to thrive. BalletRox, located at Spontaneous Celebrations, a multi-cultural community arts center in JP, is deeply connected to the Boston community. With several youth development programs housed under the same roof, participants have access to many opportunities in one place. This supportive environment enables us to provide not only scholarship, but necessary social and emotional support, including opportunity to utilize additional community resources that help participants to be successful. BalletRox provides Spontaneous Celebrations with many strengthening benefits as well: steady rental income, increased activity and participation in building activities, increased participation in enrichment activities including drumming circle, ability to share resources and costs, increased opportunities for young people in other programs to attend cultural field trips, and expansion and improvement of the performance space. Goal #2: BalletRox Supports Local Artists BalletRox dance teaching artists are highly qualified and experienced, professional artists and teachers. BalletRox is strongly committed to providing a steady, reliable income for our teaching artists. Most of our teaching artists perform in dance companies throughout Boston, and we accommodate their artistic endeavors with flexible scheduling. In addition to teaching classes, BalletRox teaching artists develop curriculum material, create choreography, mentor students, and collaborate on recitals and other projects. Our teaching artists create works of art with students for performances including local city-wide festivals including the Franklin Park Concert and the Wake up the Earth Festival. Goal #3: BalletRox Encourages Appreciation for Cultural Traditions and Accessibility for All While poverty remains the #1 factor that affects accessibility for our participants, dance has its own set of prohibitive requirements including high cost of dancewear (in addition to tuition), previous age related experience, archaic vision of required body type, and bias toward white ballerinas for aesthetic purposes of the art form. BalletRox smashes these ideas and has responded by creating a community dance program that is not only affordable, based on sliding scale income, but accessible to all regardless of age or previous experience, and especially unconcerned about body type or color of skin. We address these needs through mentoring, training and encouragement to succeed in a studio environment, resources for parents, and provision of dancewear and dance shoes which helps to ensure that our participants have all the tools they need to be successful. Our programming is culturally relevant and students participate in learning many different dance styles including Caribbean Soca, Afro-Jazz, Latin and Nigerian dance. Young people with disabilities are welcome in all BalletRox classes. In our school programs, we teach students in classes specifically designed for students with Autism, and in fully inclusive settings. Goal #4: BalletRox Integrates Arts and Culture into all Aspects of Civic Life We have worked closely with Boston Public Schools (BPS) and BPS Arts Expansion Fund at Edvestors since its inception in 2009 to increase weekly arts instruction during the school day for all BPS students. Our school programs are located within the same community as our after-school dance program providing students access to a natural bridge between in-school and after-school dance opportunities and community involvement. BPS students are welcome and encouraged to join our community dance program and students from in-school and after-school programs study, perform, and attend field trips together regularly. Goal #5: BalletRox Collaborates and Advocates BalletRox is a member of MassCreative, and has consistently attended advocacy events, lobbied for arts funding for Massachusetts Cultural Council, invited state and local legislators to our performances and events, participated in the development of the Boston Creates plan. BalletRox programs are intricately woven into the Boston Community. We work closely with health centers, community centers, universities, public schools, and other like-minded arts organizations to support full integration of dance into community life. Our committment to award scholarships to students from neighborhood schools, and to establish a Community Dance Program in Jamaica Plain makes certain that our program services those young people of Boston who lack access and opportunity. BalletRox is managed by a small, but long-time dedicated base of board members, staff, and volunteers. Many staff members and teaching artists have worked with BalletRox for more than 10 years. Board Members are selected based on community representation and willingness to participate on a working board as necessitated by a small staff. Teaching artists are selected based on their dance expertise, experience working with a diverse population, and commitment to not only teaching high quality dance classes, but to the Youth Development approach including mentoring participants, supporting growth, and encouraging increase in life skills. They are an ethnically and culturally diverse group, with roots in Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Russia, Honduras, Haiti, and the African American community. Teaching artists and BalletRox youth bring their diverse backgrounds to our programs. BalletRox youth benefit by participating in culturally relevant dance instruction such as Caribbean Soca, Latin, Afro-Jazz, and Nigerian Dance taught by experienced artists. Two students recently shared their culture by performing for the community, a traditional Vietnamese dance in traditional clothing. Our participants, ages 4-18, live in Jamaica Plain, Mission Hill, Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan; 35% are African/Caribbean American, 40% Hispanic, 14% Vietnamese/Asian, and 11% White or Other. Nearly 90% of participants live below poverty level, the number one challenge they deal with every day. Over 50% are children of recent immigrants, adding additional language and cultural barriers to success. While most of our participants struggle with everyday challenges such as living in economically depressed areas, long commutes on public transportation, and single parent households, they show enormous resilience: they are enthusiastic, passionate about dance, and willing to work hard. Our participants are supported by families who may not have financial assets, but are deeply committed to the success of their children. Students age 11+ have many leadership opportunities; in addition to required roles as teaching assistants, they also serve on Youth Council providing input to classes and performances, and serve as role models for younger members. Our creative youth development approach enables the youth voice to shine through in program development, class design and selection, independent choreography, and picking out costumes for performances. BalletRox programs are intricately woven into the Boston Community. We work closely with health centers, community centers, universities, public schools, and other like-minded arts organizations to support full integration of dance into community life. Our school programs are located within the same community as our after-school dance program and our committment to award scholarships to students from neighborhood schools, and to establish a Community Dance Program in Jamaica Plain makes certain that our program services those young people of Boston who lack access and opportunity.