Educational Background/Training

Artists and Faculty: https://www.latinballet.com/artists-and-faculty 

The Latin Ballet of Virginia and its founder, Ana Ines King have received several awards of distinction as Best Arts in Education Programs, including the Virginia Women in History 2016 award, presented to Ana Ines King by the Library of Virginia for her important contribution to Virginia, the nation and the world. The Entrepreneur Bridge Builder Award 2015 presented to Ana Ines King by the Virginia Hispanic of Commerce for commitment to education and culture. The 2015 YWCA Outstanding Woman of the Year Award presented to Ana Ines King for making the arts accessible to low income families, empowering youth, and making the Hispanic culture alive and vibrant throughout our community. The 14th Annual Theresa Pollack Prize for Excellence in the Arts awarded for Dance presented to Ana Ines King and the Latin Ballet of Virginia. 2005 Best Artists in Residency award in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, presented by the North Carolina Arts Council for excellence in multicultural educational programs. 2004 Jane Baskerville Award for the best community education program for World Languages in Chesterfield County Public Schools in Virginia.  

As teaching professionals, we do continue education in a variety of dance styles, representing the Hispanic culture through dance education. Tremendous experience in working with diverse populations in varied settings has been the greatest training for developing our artistic skills. LBV reaches directly over 1,200 youth annually in our residencies. This does not include those we engage through workshops, lecture demonstrations and classes at our school of dance. Yearly we review our successes and our areas of weakness and refine our programs and our training. As we have watched the needs of the community change, we have adapted our programs and received additional training so that we might continue to offer quality programs to additional populations.  

Richmond’s Hispanic population has grown considerably and now accounts for nearly 6 percent of the city’s population. LBV began as a way for those new to the U.S. to have a place that was familiar and where they could feel accepted. Today LBV strives to be a place where kids realize their true potential. As it has grown, LBV has reached out to a wide variety of students who can feel lost (those struggling with learning disabilities, health needs, or just looking for a place to belong) and provided them with a place to go to realize their potential and feel accepted. LBV includes educational programming in Latin/Spanish, Dance/Movement Education and Dance for individuals with cognitive disabilities. 

About the Artist/Ensemble

The Latin Ballet of Virginia (LBV) supports a future love of the arts through a number of initiatives.  LBV’s professional dance company brings innovative and exciting culturally-rich dance experiences to the community as a whole, traveling to sites around the state (and often beyond, including international engagements) to tell stories plucked from Spanish traditions.  

Through the “Be Proud of Yourself” (BPY) educational programs, LBV utilizes members of our professional dance company and faculty to prepare children (especially Hispanic, minority, and at-risk children) for success by providing access to professional dance performances, promoting an understanding of different cultures, and offering unique opportunities for children (and their families) to learn a variety of skills through dance.  As a school of dance, LBV inspires future leaders, teaching skills like persistence and humility that last a lifetime.  The Latin Ballet also nurtures a Junior Company, shaping talented and committed students into professional dancers.   Through each of these programs, LBV works to facilitate access to and participation in cultural experiences.   

Guided by a mission to, “enrich and connect communities through Latin/Hispanic cultural dance experiences with a commitment to education, diversity, and accessibility,” the Latin Ballet of Virginia (LBV) provides culturally diverse performances and classes, paying specific attention to those most likely to miss out on the arts. LBV seeks to connect cultures; educating and inspiring through innovative educational activities. LBV supports the community by helping prepare Hispanic and minority at-risk children for success and increasing access to the arts for low-income families. 

Educational Program Description

The Be Proud of Yourself (BPY) educational programs teach language skills, promote self-respect, encourage higher education, and offer guidance to students new to the U.S. while offering innovative and exciting lessons in culture.

BPY includes:

• Spanish Language through Dance, emphasizing language, identity, history, and culture.
• Dance as Therapy, incorporates the science of breathing, energy, and the brain with movement and dance for children with attention deficit disorders, learning disabilities, high-functioning autism disorder, and mild cerebral palsy.
• English as a Second Language through Dance, helping those new to the US improve language communication skills.
• Everybody READS! promoting love for reading and literature.
• Arts Education Summer Day Camp, a full immersion camp for students 5 to 13.  Comprised of Four sessions of two weeks each, the camp includes classes such as percussion, arts and crafts, dance history, storytelling, dance-theater, Latin ballet, Hip Hop, and Latin and Spanish dances.  LBV’s Educational Program Director collaborates with instructors to ensure compliance with the Virginia Standards of Learning for the Arts.
• Healthy Love for Me, provides health education for obese and children at risk.
• Jardin VERDE (Green Garden) uses art to express the power of nature and the dangers nature faces from humans, challenging youth to consider ways they can positively impact the world.

The Latin Ballet offers: Lecture Demonstrations – 40 min to 1-hour performance -that includes cultural and historical information about the dance, the countries where the dances originated, and audience participation; Residencies – a series of workshops for 4 to 10 weeks that include a final performance by the students and a lecture demonstration by LBV artists; Performances – short presentations by LBV artists including student participation; Workshops -one to a series of lessons of less than 4 weeks; Master Classes- a one time lesson of 2 hours; and Full-Length Productions – includes a full production by all LBV professional artists of 1 to 2 hours in length.

Goals – Student improvement, as evaluated by grades and/or teacher feedback, in: communication and social skills: ability to follow instructions, focus on lesson plans, and participate in activities: and increase in self-esteem. BPY study guides include more in-depth information on content and outcomes.

LBV has extensive study guides that show the connection dance has to many subject areas. All programs are adapted to the age, needs, and level of the student group. For a more in-depth look at our programs, please refer to the study guides on our website.

https://www.latinballet.com/index.php/classes/education-programs

Fees

• Residency: From $4,000 ($400 per day) 
• $6,000 ($400 per day and Lecture Demonstration included) 
• Workshop: From $150-$300 (Depending on the number of students and instructors involved) 
• School-wide performance by the students: $1,500  
• School-wide performance by the students/Lecture demonstration: $2,000 
• Lecture Demonstration: From $1,500 – $3,000 (Depending on the number of artists involved) 
• Dance Theater Productions – Repertory Performance – $4,500 – $10,000 (Depending on production version and quantity of performers) 

*Fees are negotiable depending upon the size and scope of the service, the number of artists, live-recorded music, students and instructors involved, and the needs and budget of the presenter. Fees do not include accommodation expenses. 

Audiences

• All Ages