Spreading dance into schools

NEA Today, Nov 1999

Founder of Ballet Hispanico, the nation's pre-eminent HispanicAmerican dance company and school, and creator of "Primeros Pasos" (First Steps), a national arts education program offered to public schools nationwide.

Sharing Hispanic culture through dance has been part of Ballet Hispanico's mission since 1970. But the ballet company's education component didn't begin until three years later, when Ramirez began offering mini-performances and workshops to schools.

"I wanted people to know Hispanics better and to like us," she says.

Her program, says Ramirez, who is Puerto Rican, aims to "teach children that there is another world beyond theirs and that dancing is part of life."

Through "Primeros Pasos," Ramirez passes on her love of dance to students while helping them learn core subjects. Math students, for example, learn abstract patterns, spatial and timing configurations, and how to count to music.

"They learn rhythm," she says, "and how to listen."

Ramirez, who won a 1999 Hispanic Heritage Award this fall, also works with teachers to design curriculum.

One example: "Viva Las Americas," a lecture demonstration for elementary schools that teaches students about the cultures of Latin American countries through such dances as Mexico's folklorico, Brazil's samba, and Honduras's punta.

In "Crossing Borders," a unit for 7th through 12th graders, students attend miniperformances to learn various aspects of the Hispanic experienceseeing the world, for instance, through the eyes of a struggling immigrant.

"They learn not just from books, but they feel it in their bodies," Ramirez says. "They'll remember those lessons forever."

"Primeros Pasos"-offered to 25,000 students and teachers across the country each year-has touched the lives of more than half a million students. And, Ramirez notes, it's inspired others to become professional dancers.

Contact info@ballethispanico.org or call 212/362-6710.