Dancing Classrooms uses a ten-week, twenty-session curriculum that teaches the vocabulary of six ballroom dances in a classroom setting. Through the process of teaching students to dance together, we seek to promote confidence and self-esteem in young people, to nurture respect for oneself and others who are different, and to break down social barriers and elminate bias among all who participate.
Dancing Classrooms was first launched in 1994 as a not-for-profit project of the American Ballroom Theater Company in New York City. Following the 2005 release of Mad Hot Ballroom and2006 release of Take The Lead, interest in the program was greatly accelerated and sites throughout the U.S. began their development of the Dancing Classrooms program. Each year, Dancing Classrooms now serves more than 42,000 children each year in over 500 schools across 24 cities around the world.
Dancing Classrooms Los Angeles launched in the 2011-2012 school year with 19 schools, reaching over 1300 students and 600 parents and educators from diverse communities across Los Angeles County, including, but not limited to, Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Boyle Heights, Canoga Park, Chinatown, East Los Angeles, Glassell Park, Highland Park, Hollywood, Koreatown, MacArthur Park, Monterey Park, North Hollywood, South Los Angeles, Westchester, West Hollywood, and Woodland Hills. Since our launch, we have reached more than 5,500 students at 44 elementary schools.