Ballet East Dance Company outreach program

The Ballet East Dance Company (BEDC) is an American

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th ...

company located in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. Founded by Rodolfo Mendez in 1978, the company presents at least eight staged productions during an annual season. The company often works with nationally recognized choreographers in addition to working with local talent. The BEDC was recently profiled in the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

's journal in 2009. From its inception, the Ballet East Dance Company has had a strong mission statement to promote the arts within the low-income neighborhood of East Austin. To this end the company has developed a number of different community outreach programs and has had a strong commitment to hiring and mentoring local talent. The BEDC offers internships for youth in stagecraft, coordinates an annual folk and traditional arts festival in Austin, and runs an after school dance program, "Dare to Dance", for

at-risk students An at-risk student is a term used in the United States to describe a student who requires temporary or ongoing intervention in order to succeed academically. Richardson, Val, comp. "At-Risk Student Intervention Implementation Guide." The Education ...

between the ages of 7 to 15 year olds. The company also runs a program sponsored by the NEA which enables public school student to attend productions, not only by the BEDS but also Ballet Austin and Tapestry Dance Company, for free. These field trips also provide students with the opportunity to meet and talk with performers and choreographers. BEDC also runs a dance academy, the BEDC Arts Academy, where company choreographers and dancers provide classes to the public. The school also occasionally brings in professional artists from outside of Austin to teach masterclasses both to the BEDC company members and Academy students. Recent guest teachers include Regina Larkin, artistic director of the Joyce Trisler Danscompany in New York City, and Francisco Gella, a choreographer with

Philadanco The Philadelphia Dance Company (also known as Philadanco) is a professional dance company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that specializes in contemporary dance. The organization was founded in 1970 by Artistic Director Joan Myers Brown. The ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

References

{{authority control Culture of Austin, Texas Dance companies in the United States Dance in Texas