The American Ballroom Theater Company (ABrT) is proud to announce its 25th Anniversary Gala Dinner Dance to benefit Dancing Classrooms, a not-for profit, arts-in-education program set up in 1994 to teach ballroom dancing in inner-city schools. By June 2008, under the leadership of ABrT's director, Pierre Dulaine, the program had been expanded to 230 New York City Public schools, teaching ballroom dancing to 30,000 students. The program has now also been replicated and is being implemented in 12 other national cities. Despite the economic climate and lower levels of participation in schools than originally projected due to shortage of education funding, ABrT is pushing forward with its mission and plans to roll out the program in Europe in 2009, starting in Geneva, Switzerland and Birmingham, England.
Pierre Dulaine has taken his talent for ballroom dancing and, after an award-winning career as a dancer, applied his expertise from the studio and the stage to the classroom. Dulaine started by volunteering to teach 5th Grade children at a school on West 48th Street. He quickly saw how a social development program, utilizing ballroom dancing as a vehicle to break down social barriers, could change the lives of not only the children in the program but also the lives of their teachers and parents. Dancing Classrooms was born.
Dulaine developed a teaching method combining order and discipline with use of language (body and verbal) and humor to create a safe place for - often underprivileged and sometimes unruly - children to gain self-respect, pride and elegance.
"The maturity necessary to dance together fosters teamwork, confidence and a sense of joy and accomplishment. Ballroom dance is the medium we use to nurture these qualities," says Dulaine whose profile and work have become widely known through the award-winning documentary "Mad Hot Ballroom" and the New Line movie "Take the Lead" in which he was played by Antonio Banderas. Dulaine goes on to explain his deeper philosophy, "The children learn ballroom dancing, but what they really learn are the skills of decorum, etiquette, honor, respect and dignity. At 25, they may have forgotten the steps, but the acquired politeness and knowledge of how to treat another person are skills for life."
The ABrT benefit will take place on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 7pm in the Grand Ballroom of the Roosevelt Hotel on Madison Avenue at 45th Street, New York. Dance performances at the gala will be given by the American Ballroom Theater Youth Dance Company and the World Ballroom Champions, Jonathan Wilkins and Hazel Newberry. In addition, Karen Akers (Broadway and Cabaret star) will be entertaining the 300 guests (to include Bebe Neuwirth, Kevin Mackenzie and Martine van Hamel) with her songs.
About American Ballroom Theater Company: The American Ballroom Theater Company was founded in 1984 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. From 1984 to 1995 ABrT was a performing dance company, staging more than 350 performances in 28 US states and seven other countries. Engagements included the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Broadway shows and London's West End.
About Dancing Classrooms: Dancing Classrooms was launched in 1994 as a not-for-profit project of the American Ballroom Theater Company. It is an arts-in-education program teaching ballroom dance to students of participating inner-city schools. Dancing Classrooms' mission is to build social awareness, confidence and self-esteem in children through the practice of social dance. For further information, visit www.dancingclassrooms.com.
