Ballet San Antonio partners with Boys & Girls Clubs

Ballet San Antonio, the city’s only professional ballet company, has formed a partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Antonio that will significantly expand the company’s outreach and arts education program, Learning That Moves You.

As part of this new collaboration, Ballet San Antonio will send professional dancers to teach ballet to children in the Boys & Girls Clubs Westside location, free of charge, throughout the 2012-2013 season. The goal is to extend the partnership to other branches of the Boys and Girls Club in 2013.

Rackspace Hosting and Target are currently sponsoring the program.

“We could not be more excited about working with the Boys & Girls Clubs to expose more San Antonio youth to an art form that blends creative expression with physical stamina,” said Courtney Mauro Barker, Ballet San Antonio President & Executive Director. “Our classes seek to encourage healthy, active lifestyles, whether through future ballet classes or other physical activities.”

Classes will be led by Ballet Master and Principal Dancer Raul Salamanca, who is organizing the program for Ballet San Antonio, and Soloist Danae Quevedo. Other Ballet San Antonio dancers will assist with the classes, which will emphasize ballet technique, as well as ballet history and etiquette.

“We are so excited to be partnering with Ballet San Antonio,” said Boys & Girls Clubs of San Antonio CEO Angie Mock. “It’s going to be wonderful to introduce ballet to youth on the Westside of San Antonio who would not otherwise have the opportunity to experience ballet. We hope the partnership will grow in the years to come to serve the Boys & Girls Clubs members throughout the city.”