Photos: Ballet Hispánico
New York, NY – Ballet Hispánico School of Dance announces spring adult classes, available now! The Adult Program at Ballet Hispánico is the ideal space for dance enthusiasts, dancers, and anyone who loves moving to the rhythm of a variety of music. With open-level classes, including salsa, tango, beginner ballet, mat pilates, and flamenco, the School of Dance offers quality training with world-renowned dance professionals for adult students at beginner to advanced beginner levels in a fun and supportive environment where they can enhance their dance and fitness skills, Monday – Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons. The Spring Session will run from April 1 – June 6; the Winter Session is still open for drop-in classes until March 23.
The Ballet Hispánico School of Dance is a leading center of excellence in dance education—serving over 1,000 students and celebrating more than 50 years of dance and culture—and offers accessible, high-quality dance training to students of all levels ages 2 through adult. Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Dance, it empowers students by offering a holistic approach to movement discovery, including pre-professional training and classes for the novice dancer.
Located in the heart of the Upper West Side and teaching the love of dance for over 50 years, the Ballet Hispánico School of Dance has multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary dance training for dancers of all ages, with class offerings including Ballet, Flamenco, Hip-Hop, Latin Rhythms, Afro-Caribbean, Salsa, Jazz, Tap, and other modern and contemporary forms for early childhood through adult, led by a team of world-class professionals! This unique program offers class packages, providing students with individualized attention, guidance, and interaction with a large roster of experienced and engaging instructors. Pricing begins at $170 for a seven-week session and is $190-$205 for nine weeks. Drop-in classes are $25 per class. Ballet Hispánico’s School of Dance adult classes encourage participants to get in shape, brush up on their dance moves, and make new friends.
The Ballet Hispánico School of Dance is the direct link to the organization’s values of access, opportunity, and pride for all students interested in dance and Latine/x/Hispanic culture. For more information, visit https://www.ballethispanico.org/school/additional-learning/adult-classes. To enroll, please visit https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/classic/mainclass or contact Program Advisor Melissa Castañeda at [email protected].
“At Ballet Hispánico, we’ve dedicated more than 50 years of service to making dance education accessible to our communities,” said Michelle Manzanales, Director, School of Dance, Ballet Hispánico. “Our mission to provide world class dance training and art making for dancers of all ages is deeply intertwined with our passion for lifting up our students and artists. We take pride in the fact that our mission and art is rooted in cultural representation, authenticity, and expression. More than simply dance education, we work to support the development of overall life skills: the ability to access joy, own and express one’s individual voice, tackle decision-making, thrive in teamwork, and truly understand hard work and its rewards.”
ADULT CLASSES
Salsa: Level 2: Mondays at 7:00pm
Join this advanced beginner Salsa for Adults, designed to be the continuation of our Salsa: Level 1 class and is ideal for those who have prior training in this dance style. This class will give you the opportunity to take your training to the next level! Steps are safe for all ages and no partner is needed.
Tango: Tuesdays at 7:15pm
In these classes, dancers will work on the foundational basis needed to dance Argentine Tango. The course includes learning individual and couples techniques and useful tools. No previous experience required, and no partner is needed.
Yoga: Tuesdays at 7:15pm
In this grounding and energizing class, you will be led through dynamic sequencing of postures that are linked to the breath from a specific style of yoga, Vinyasa Flow. This class will help you increase strength and flexibility, and it is open to all levels.
Beginner Ballet: Wednesdays at 7:00pm
Join the School of Dance for this class designed to teach you the basic principles of ballet! If you have ever wanted to learn ballet, this is the perfect class for you. It will provide the necessary tools that will allow you to understand how a ballet class works and how the muscles in your body need to engage to achieve the simple but complex steps of this dance style.
Mat Pilates: Thursdays at 7:00pm
Whether you are a dancer or not, having a strong balanced body will keep you away from chronic pain and injuries. This class will improve your posture, flexibility, balance, body awareness and it will make you stronger in every sense. Class will start warming up the body, working on balance and gentle stretches, followed by a series of mat exercises based on the method. Pilates focuses on the connection between the body and the mind, being 100% present and aware during the class so when class is finished your new good habits happen without you having to think. The benefits from doing Pilates are well worth the effort.
Flamenco: Open Level Technique Saturdays at 2:45pm
Join School of Dance faculty member, and former soloist and choreographer for the Jose Greco Dance Company, JoDe Romano “La Chispa”, for an Adult Flamenco Technique class series. This class will explore the basic elements and movement techniques of Flamenco. ¡OLÉ!
Flamenco: Open Level Combinations Saturdays at 3:45pm
Join School of Dance faculty member, and former soloist and choreographer for the Jose Greco Dance Company, JoDe Romano “La Chispa”, for an Adult Flamenco Combinations class series, exploring the basic elements, choreography, and movement combinations of Flamenco. ¡OLÉ!
Salsa: Level 1: Saturdays 3:00pm
Join us in this beginner Salsa for Adults! Get your body moving with us while learning the basic steps, shines, and partner work found in New York’s Salsa On2 timing. All steps are safe for all ages and no partner is needed. This class explores the Latin dance of Salsa through body isolations, rhythm, and partner work which are explained and demonstrated in detail using dance kinesiology and theory.
ABOUT THE FACULTY
Melissa Castañeda (Beginner Ballet) was born and raised in Monterrey, México, where she started her career as a dancer more than twenty years ago. She recently received her M.A. in Dance Education with a focus on American Ballet Theater’s National Training Curriculum from NYU Steinhardt. She is a fully certified teacher of the NTC and also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Dance Education with a Specialty in Classical from the Escuela Superior de Música y Danza de Monterrey. Her dance training includes ballet, modern, and jazz in intensives and performances with different schools around the United States, such as Houston Ballet Academy, Orlando Ballet School, and The Ailey School. As a teacher, Melissa has prepared students for national and international dance competitions, where they have obtained successful results, and she has received awards such as the “Outstanding Scholarship and Service in Dance Education” award through New York University. She is a passionate dance educator who strives to positively impact the lives of her students, and she is very excited to be a part of the Ballet Hispánico School of Dance.
Internationally recognized dancer, teacher, choreographer and co-artistic director of DoubleTake Dance Vanessa Martínez de Baños (Pilates) has been trained in Contemporary, Ballet, Lyrical, Musical Theater, Hip Hop, Tap, Modern, Areal Silks and Acting. She can be seen dancing in Daniel Gwirtzman Company, now celebrating 10 years as a soloist. Some of her favorite shows include Lincoln Center Outdoors, Battery Dance, Rochester Fringe Festival, Christy Walsh Company and DoubleTake Dance. Recently seen as “The Queen” in the Contemporary Ballet production of “The Queen of Nöri” by Stoneworks Productions (performed in Oahu, Hawaii) and in the Fashion Magazine BAZAAR Indonesia, dancing/modeling for Fashion Designer Yinglun Zhang. And the show “Planets” as a dancer/ choreographer produced by KDA (Oahu, Hawaii) Honored with a professional development scholarship from the Spanish Ministry of Culture Vanessa moved to NYC to pursue her dance career. Credits in Spain include choreographing “Tick Tick…BOOM!” and “I Love You, You’re Perfect… Now Change” produced by Tela-Katola as well as performing with the European show “Compradores de Sueños.” Vanessa loves traveling as a teacher, judge and choreographer and is also a Pilates Mat Certified Trainer, with choreography featured in the YAGP finals.
Marcos Pereira and Florencia Borgnia (Tango) are Argentine Tango dancers, performers and instructors from Argentina and currently based in New York City. They started their career together in 2013, performing at many Tango Shows in Buenos Aires, such as “Cafe Tortoni”, “La Ventana”, “El Querandi”, among others. Since then, they haven’t stopped doing what they like the most, dancing Tango. They have been dedicated to tango since their early age, having the opportunity to learn and being inspired by most of the well known tango masters in Buenos Aires. Together they have achieved a unique style, among other tango couples, because of their outstanding elegance and their technical and interpretative quality. In 2015, they got the Second Place in the Buenos Aires City Tango Championship; they have been Finalists in the World Tango Championship in 2017, 2018 and 2019. In 2023 they got 9th Place in the World Tango Championship. During the latest years, they have been travelling all around the USA, Asia and Latin America, teaching and performing at most of the biggest Tango Festivals; they were also part of the main cast of several Shows throughout the USA, such as “Tango Argentina” and “Ella es Tango”, among others. Tango is their passion, and they would like to invite you to join them in this wonderful and captivating “one-way trip” to the Tango world.
JoDe Romano (Flamenco) “La Chispa” was a guest teaching artist & graduate of the High School for the Performing Arts in Houston, Texas where she was featured in the Houston Grand Opera’s Carmen. She also performed in the Franco Zeffirelli original production of Carmen, starring Placido Domingo and Maria Benitez at the Metropolitan Opera, attended by president Clinton, which was broadcast for PBS’s Live From Lincoln Center and toured Japan with the Three Tenors. For over 20 years, Ms. Romano lived, studied, and performed Spanish dance in Spain and Japan, was soloist and choreographer for the José Greco Dance Company at The Joyce Theater, the Town Hall New York City, and toured the US and Spain. She was also a dancer in The Charo Show in Las Vegas with Jerry Lewis, Joel Grey and others, and taught a castanet workout on the Dr. Oz Show. JoDe Romano choreographed the Broadway Workshop production of Rita Hayworth-Hollywood Goddess, numerous Zarzuelas, and the mixed media dramatic presentation, Picasso’s Guernica, at The Thalia Theater in New York. Ms. Romano has taught at Alvin Ailey and NYC public schools. Currently, Ms. Romano conducts Spanish dance and castanet classes at the 92Y Harkness Dance Center and is a graduate of the 92Y Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) program. She has been a guest teacher at Hunter College and co-developed and taught a DEL workshop at the 92Y. Ms. Romano also taught a master class and workshop at NYU for NYSDEA and at Fall for Dance at NY City Center. She teaches at Steps on Broadway, Ballet Hispánico, the Joffrey Ballet trainees, and Joffrey summer intensive NYC, along with other locations throughout the NY metropolitan area. Ms. Romano holds a teaching license from the Bureau of Provisionary School Supervision (BPSS) under the NY Department of Education. She has completed a series of instructional DVDs on castanet and flamenco movement techniques and produced and played castanets on her “Spanish Classical Piano and Castanets” CD. Ms. Romano is grateful to have choreographed and designed the costumes for La Jota Dolores on her NYC Ballet Hispánico pre-professional students’ performance for the Tina Ramirez memorial at the 92Y/92NY.
Shani Talmor (Salsa), professional actor, performer and teacher, has traveled worldwide presenting her sensual and sexy Salsa style.Trained in a variety of dance styles, including Ballet, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Samba and Afro-Cuban, Shani is an energetic and explosive dancer. Shani is worldwide known for her unique sensuous styling and body movement on and off the dance floor. She has powerful stage presence and a passionate love for teaching. Shani made her Broadway debut and became an ensemble dancer on the musical “ON YOUR FEET” the life story of Gloria and Emilio Estefan. Right after that, Shani opened the 1st national tour of “On Your Feet” until closing. Shani was recently seen in the Warner Brothers movie “In The Heights” by Lin Manuel Miranda, directed by Jon Chu. She was the associate choreographer at “The Muny’s” theatre production of “ON YOUR FEET” and “LEGALLY BLONDE” and was also the associate choreographer on the 2nd national tour of “ON YOUR FEET” that is currently still touring. A few of her credits include performances with artists: Pitbull, Marc Anthony, T-Pain, Ne-Yo and Kat Deluna. She performed at Jennifer Lopez’s 40th Birthday Party event, The “NY Knicks” Noche Latina at Madison Square Garden and Madonna’s “Smirnoff lifestyle Exchange Project” showcase. Her TV Credits include “The Wendy Williams Show”, “Kennedy Center Honors”, “Mira Quien Baila,” “The View,” “America’s Got Talent,” “Penny Dreadful City Of Angles,” “Let The Right One In” and “The Godfather Of Harlem.”
Kyla McCarthy (Yoga) began teaching yoga in 2015 after she attended Bikram training in Thailand. Soon after she received her 200 Hour Vinyasa, 75 hour Mentorship and 25 hour Restorative Training at Yoga Vida. In 2022 Kyla received her 85 hour Prenatal Yoga Certification at the Prenatal Yoga Center and was lucky enough to teach at PYC throughout her pregnancy. The practice has been a constant in her life as it has helped her battle anxiety, depression, and gain discipline. Kyla’s class is accessible, creative, focused and inviting.
Ballet Hispánico is the largest Latinx/Latine/Hispanic cultural organization in the United States and one of America’s Cultural Treasures. Ballet Hispánico’s three main programs, the Company, School of Dance, and Community Arts Partnerships bring communities together to celebrate the multifaceted Hispanic diasporas. Ballet Hispánico’s New York City headquarters provide the physical home and cultural heart for Latinx dance in the United States. It is a space that initiates new inclusive cultural conversations and explores the intersectionality of Latine cultures. The Ballet Hispánico mission opens a platform for new social dialogue, and nurtures and sees a community in its fullness. Through its exemplary artistry, distinguished training program, and deep-rooted community engagement, Ballet Hispánico champions and amplifies Latine voices in the field. For over fifty years Ballet Hispánico has provided a place of honor for the omitted, overlooked, and othered. As it looks to the future, Ballet Hispánico is pushing the culture forward on issues of dance and Latine creative expression.
