About us

Our Mission
To remove barriers to dance education and to build community through dance.

We are a nonprofit dance organization providing access to dance education to the Washington Heights community.

We believe the art of dance is transformative for individuals and communities. There should be no barriers to everyone experiencing the magic that dance holds, so we work to remove the barriers that do exist.

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Our Impact
We love helping budding dancers reach their full potential while performing.

DPWH currently serves over 700 students of different ages, backgrounds, cultures, and socio-economic statuses.

Here are some statistics regarding our student body:

  • 55% of our students are low-income by NYC standards and at least 36% are considered extremely low-income

  • 65% of our students identify as Latinx, and 45% identify as Black

  • 65 students have advanced to a level 2 of ballet instruction, and there are 31 students enrolled in ballet level 3

  • 143 students take 2 classes per week, 35 are enrolled in 3 classes per week, and 10 students take 4 different classes per week

  • 104 current students are boys
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What We Do

  • breaking down gender expectations

    #representationmatters

    #ballet

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    creating performers, storytellers, dreamers, stars

    #dancefriendsarethebestfriends

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    #mentorship

  • DPWH Ensemble

    dance company in training

  • Diverse Faculty

    #representationmatters

  • building community

    #socialdance

  • Community Events

    #Thriller

    #HarvestFestival

  • #rhythm

  • trained and experienced faculty

    #technique

  • Bilingual classes

    salsa, bachata, merengue...y mas

  • child-centered teaching

    positive classroom management

    neuro-diverse classrooms

    #inclusion

  • encouraging kids to be creative, make choices, love themselves and use their voices

  • #earlychildhood

    #bonding

    #communitysupport

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    #socialjustice

    #blacklivesmatter

    #nokidsincages

    #abolishice

  • developing confident, expressive youth

  • teaching the roots

    #hiphopculture

    #streetstyles

  • a community of volunteers

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    #families

    We're all in this together

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    creating leaders, teachers, creators

    #takingupspace

Our Faculty and Staff
Learn more about our team

DPWH faculty is hired for their high level of training, their passion for children and for social justice, and for the array of experience they bring to their classes. We hire teachers who reflect the diversity of dance and our community, who bring warmth and joy to the classroom, and who expect amazing things from their students.

JOIN OUR TEAM

Dance Project is hiring! CLICK HERE to see available positions and application instructions.

Board of Directors

We would love to hear from you

Feel free to give us a call or send us an email with any questions or comments you have.