BALAM Dance Theatre Receives Grant to Create Baroque Dance Workshop Series & Performance

BALAM Dance Theatre (BALAM) has received a grant from the Fund for Creative Communities. The grant will provide seed money to present a new Baroque dance workshop series and a performance for the Washington Heights community in New York City to experience and engage with the arts.

BALAM, a New York City-based ensemble dance company, will create a workshop and new program, A Don Quixote for the Washington Heights Choir School, inspired by the classic novel. The children's workshop series, from September 4 through October 17, will be offered free to the students attending the institution. They will receive Baroque dance lessons that complement their current Baroque music lessons at Washington Heights Choir School and dance and act in a finale performance with BALAM's artists on October 18. In the workshop, students will learn period fencing, perform the dances sarabande and bourree, and work with grotesque masks in the commedia dell'arte style.

The program will feature BALAM's artists and guest artist Broadway actor and singer Mauricio Villalobos, as the bilingual English and Spanish narrator and Don Quixote figure, and Elis Guzman performing on the vihuela. The performance will be presented on October 18 at 3:00 p.m. at Holyrood Episcopal Church -- Iglesia Santa Cruz, located at 715 West 179th Street, in New York City. The performance will be free and open to the public. Donations are welcome and appreciated.

"This award enables BALAM to introduce and serve children and families from the vibrant Washington Heights community to Baroque music and dance and our eclectic programming," said Carlos Fittante, artistic director, BALAM Dance Theatre.

The program, A Don Quixote for Washington Heights Choir School, is made possible in part with public funds from the Fund for Creative Communities, supported by New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

About BALAM Dance Theatre

Founded as a contemporary dance company in 1979 by choreographer and movement researcher Islene Pinder, BALAM Dance Theatre (BALAM) joins diverse dances and historical periods from around the world with the dazzling opulence and magical aura of Balinese theatre. A New York City-based chamber company, BALAM creates an entertainment experience that appeals to audiences of all ages and backgrounds. The company's innovative artistry and movement fusion of athletic and detailed skills are enhanced by eclectic music, striking masks, vibrant costumes and fantasy stories.

Programs include customized choreographies, lectures, demonstrations, master classes and workshops that educate the community at the grassroots level. BALAM has been featured at numerous festivals and venues, including First Night New York, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, and Downtown Dance Festival and appeared throughout the United States and internationally. Praise has been received from the New York Times and Village Voice, the Governor and people of Bali and the Indonesian Consulate of New York, as well as others.

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