Ballet East Dance Company
A Creative Gateway to Empowerment
Words by Gabby Frasier Photos by Ashley Haguewood
The twirls of vibrant skirts, the taps of folklórico shoes, and the claps of a dance instructor permeate the halls of the Metz Recreation Center every Saturday morning.
At any given moment, joyful smiles and concentrated grimaces can equally be found on the folklórico students’ faces. The passionate, thumping stomps of thick dance boots and heels reverberate throughout the room, allowing the students to become one with the instructor’s yells and commands, all while meeting each other in a harmonic choreographed routine. Ballet East Dance Company provides an empowering space for children of all ages to gather, join hands, and learn traditional Mexican dances together, despite the threat of looming funding issues that increasingly endanger the program’s future.
Ballet East Dance Company was founded by Rodolfo Méndez with the belief that social empowerment and the discipline of folklórico dance can positively impact children. Originally from Austin, Méndez attended a dance school in New York City as a teenager then joined the Peace Corps, where he brought his trademark spirited dance performances to underserved communities in Chile and Costa Rica. After experiencing many cultures, Méndez returned to Texas and founded Ballet East Dance Company in his native neighborhood of East Austin. This year, the dance company is celebrating 40 years of serving the community. The thrill of introducing new cultures to global communities has stuck with Méndez since his days of traveling the world, and he’s committed to instilling his passion and spirit in Eastsiders through folklórico dance.
During the 40 years Ballet East Dance Company has been alive, Méndez transformed his directorial role in the company into something greater: becoming someone for his students to look up to, pal around with, and respect as their mentor. Méndez selflessly coaches his students in personal challenges such as eating healthy, gang violence, and other issues children face during adolescence. “The big thing is discipline, self-respect, self-confidence, self-esteem,” Méndez boasts, adding, “I try to show them all kinds of issues when they come up. Right now, it’s about voting.”
The children Méndez coaches in the program are devoted, with some students attending his folklórico classes from early elementary school through their freshman year in college. Méndez, however, is concerned with attendance levels in recent years. “The area is changing a lot,” he says of the evolving East Austin climate. “A lot of [students] have gone on to Kyle, Buda, Bastrop, Del Valle, so it’s hard to recruit the kids, even though it’s a free group.”
Méndez says the folklórico program’s fate is in the hands of funding and city grants. Arts programs across Texas have been suffering from similar funding issues, but for a small, non-profit dance program such as Ballet East Dance Company, every dollar they receive is crucial to their ability to keep the doors open. Each year, funding for the dance program is cut from the city’s budget, leaving the dance company to rely on local patron donations and the generosity of the Austin community.
A majority of Ballet East Dance Company’s students will graduate high school and go on to college, join the military, or leave town to pursue new experiences. Méndez credits the dance program for the students’ ability to spread their wings after high school, but long after his students leave, they remember Mendez’s kindness, warmth, and familial presence. His former students often reach out to him whenever they visit home to update him on their successes. Méndez adds with a wistful smile, “They’re like my kids.”
Still, Méndez believes the folklórico program will continue to struggle if the local community doesn’t step up to the plate. “There’s a definite issue in our city with the arts,” Méndez says with passion. “We have to fight this year for our funding.”
Contact:
(512) 385-2838
balleteast.org
mendestein@hotmail.com
