HISTORY

Founded in 1997, in Richmond, Virginia, under the direction of Colombia, South America native, Ana Ines King, the Latin Ballet of Virginia (LBV) is the area’s pre-eminent Hispanic dance company.

Mrs. King has over twenty years of experience teaching, directing and performing in South America and the United States. Initially, the Latin Ballet focused on performances and teaching classes for students in various locations. To better manage growth, in 2000 the first studio was centralized at the Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen in Henrico County. A second school was added in Chesterfield County in 2005.

The Latin Ballet now offers over 100 classes per week at two dance schools, has a company of ten professional dancers from around the world and nine professional musicians, and includes a junior company comprised of twenty-five students. The Latin Ballet of Virginia has performed throughout Virginia, Washington D.C., North Carolina and at select venues in Central and South America.

Productions have benefited the children in Cartagena, Colombia; Zacatecas, Mexico; the Make a Wish Foundation; the Children’s Hospital; and children with special and financial needs.

MISSION

The Latin Ballet’s mission is to preserve and promote Latin American and Spanish cultures through teaching and performing professionally for diverse audiences in North and South America. The company fulfills its mission by providing culturally diverse performances and classes, performing four original productions per year, helping prepare Hispanic and minority at-risk children for success in our community, increasing access to the arts for low-income families, and traveling outside of the Commonwealth of Virginia for professional performances and after school programs.

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

Hispanic Americans represent North America’s largest and fastest growing ethnic group. The Latin Ballet seeks to expose students of every background to this rich and artistic heritage in a format that is designed to build self-confidence through physical and mental challenges. Additionally, the Latin Ballet’s educational programs strive to aid students, new to the United States, in adapting to their new country by helping them improve their language and communication skills.

The Latin Ballet’s ‘Be Proud of Yourself’ Educational Program:

• Spanish Language through Dance - a bilingual program emphasizing the language, identity, history and culture of Spanish-speaking countries.

• Dance as Therapy - for children with attention deficit disorders, learning disabilities, high-functioning autism and mild cerebral palsy.

• English as a Second Language through Dance helps individuals new to the United States to improve their language and communication skills.

• EveryBody Reads! - a curricular supplement to all of the above programs.

• Amor Para Mi (Love for Me) - a scholarship program for students and families with special and financial needs emphasizing self love and self confidence.

• Youth Philanthropy - a youth leadership development program where students are paired with instructors to provide input into a course syllabus and assist in teaching a class of his or her peers for one semester.

• The Latin Ballet also is available for lecture demonstrations, residencies and full-length productions in educational settings that meet Standards of Learning (SOL) and other educational standards.    

We are committed to high quality and professionalism in our performances, and we bring the same commitment to our educational programs, which have served schools, organizations and the community since 1997. All services are appropriate and adaptable for a variety of audiences.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Ambassador of Dance: Ana’s megawatt personality and commanding presence make it easy to understand why she’s developed such a following in the studio and the community. The dancer’s joy for sharing her cultural heritage shapes all that she does.
~ Sara Jones, Southern Living Magazine.

Latin Ballet Inspires Bravos: My Husband and I were in the audience when the Latin Ballet of Virginia performed at the Glen Allen Cultural Arts Center recently. We found the performance thrilling. More than 30 dancers in colorful costumes whirled around the stage. They ranged from small children to one, a friend of ours, who is in her 80’s. There were soloists such as Will Sterling Walker who could succeed on Broadway. Richmond is fortunate to have Ana Ines King, who directed these talented dancers.        
~ Margaret Gordon Seiler, Editor, Richmond Times-Dispatch

Bravissimo! Your performances brought many of our young audience members to their feet as they enthusiastically tried to emulate what they saw on stage. Your story telling was spot on, with its mix of characters costumes, multiple genres, audience engagement and more…             
~ Sarah Andrew Wilson, Assistant Director of Education Outreach, Wolf Trap

The students involved in your program are the ones who most need encouragement and extra support. There are two sisters from the Philippines and two other girls, one from Cameroon and from Ethiopia. The Latin Ballet classes have been a huge blessing for each of them. Your classes have brought out a joy in them that we had not seen until they started dancing!
~ Kristie, ESL teacher 2008, regarding LBV English as a Second Language Through Dance long term residency at Huguenot HS

PARTNERSHIPS

• Working with the Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen in festivals and special events to help build strong and diverse communities through arts in education.

• Performing in Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce festivals and events.

• Coordinating cultural exchanges between Virginia and Zacatecas, Mexico.

• Teaching and performing with the musicians of Ban Caribe Ensemble, Drums No Guns, and Robinson’s Guitars for the Latin Ballet programs.

• Collaborating with arts organizations including the Richmond Symphony, the Roanoke Symphony, the Children’s Museum of Richmond and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to support third-party educational programs and events.

• Teaching on and off-campus educational programs with city and county public schools and community organizations.

• Partnering with such colleges and universities as Virginia Commonwealth, J. Sergeant Reynolds, William & Mary, John Tyler, Longwood and Radford.

• Participating as a member of the ArtsFund in their special presentations and events to raise the public awareness and appreciation for the arts.

Collaboration is a critical success factor to reach our primary goals: building a stronger and more diverse community by bringing us all together as one big family.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Ana Ines King, Jose G. Andueza, J. Larkin Brown, Antoinette Essa, Jo-Ann Payamps-Santos, Evelia Margarita Porto, Valerie Caperton, William Alfred King, Dhol E. Tuason, Ricardo J. Nuñez, Rafael Barragan, Virginia Board, Brigitte Betancourt Sotolongo, Parrish Mort, Donna Banks Champs, Joann Richardson, Scott Blackwell, Davey King, Sue King

Administrative Staff:
Kelley Reibel, Director of Operations
Kevin Jones, Graphic Designer
Megan Harrold, Touring and Development Director

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Ana Ines King, Founder, and Artistic Director of the Latin Ballet of Virginia, holds a B.F.A. in Dance and Choreography from the Instituto de Bellas Artes of Colombia, South America. Mrs. King has over twenty years of experience teaching, directing and performing in South America and the United States. In Colombia, South America, Mrs. King founded and was Artistic Director of the Santander Jazz Ballet from 1985 to 1995. She was awarded “Best National Choreographer” for “One Hundred Years of Solitude” in Colombia, SA and her choreography of “Annie” for Televisa, Mexico was awarded Best Children’s Film of the Year. Mrs. King was awarded “Hispanic Woman of the Year 2002” for services to the community, by AT&T Broadband & CNN en Español in Virginia.  In 2004 she received the Jane Baskerville Award for the best community education program for World Languages in Chesterfield County Public Schools in Virginia and in 2005 was named Best Artists in Residency for Multicultural programs, in Cabarrus County, North Carolina by the North Carolina Arts Council. She is also a Task Force Committee Member for the Richmond Regional Cultural Action Plan. Mrs. King teaches Flamenco, Latin American and Caribbean dances and Latin Jazz for the Latin Ballet of Virginia and for Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Dance and Choreography.

PROFESSIONAL COMPANY & ARTISTS

William Sterling Walker (dancer) began his dance training at the age of 14 at the Chamber Ballet in Williamsburg, Virginia. He went on to receive the Artist Merit Award from the Virginia School of the Arts, and was a Regional Dance America scholarship recipient. He trained with the Contemporary Ballet Theater, Allegheny Ballet Company, and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. He danced professionally with the Richmond Ballet Company for four years, and the Starr Foster Dance Project and Chris Burnside and Dancers for one year. He teaches various forms of dance technique at the School of the Latin Ballet and the Henrico Center for the Arts High School. He is the Latin Ballet’s Junior Company Director at the Glen Allen studio.

LaWanda Raines Giunti (dancer) received a BFA in Dance and Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University. Mrs. Raines has taught studio curriculum for Richmond City Dance Program. She also teaches and develops outreach classes for after school programs and early childhood development. She performed and toured with Fred Ho Big Red Media Company in New York City. She is a certified Zumba and Gymnastics instructor. She teaches Dance Theater, Hip Hop, Capoeira and Latin Jazz. She is the director of the Latin Ballet’s Junior Company at the Chesterfield studio.

Annielille Gavino (dancer) was born in the Philippines.  She started dancing at an early age of five at The Philippine Ballet Theatre and danced professionally with Powerdance Philippines. She furthered her studies at The Ailey School in New York and danced with several NY based choreographers namely Rod Rodgers Dance Company, Nina Buisson and Freddie Moore. She also danced for distinguished companies such as Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble and Dallas Black Dance Theater. She has danced works by Alonzo King, Alvin Ailey, Ron Brown, Elisa Monte, Donald Mc Kayle, Christopher Huggins, Kevin Wynn, Katherine Dunham and many others. Annie teaches Zumba and Hip Hop at the Latin Ballet.

Kevin LaMarr Jones (dancer) graduated from the University of Richmond with a B.S. in Business Administration. While studying to receive a BFA in Dance and Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University he performed in faculty, student and guest artist work, and presented his own original choreography several times on the Grace Street Theater stage. Previously he served as a soloist, choreographer and chaplain with the Saint Paul’s Baptist Church Ayinde Dance Ensemble. Mr. Jones is an active member of the Richmond dance community. He is also the graphic designer for the company.

Megan Harrold (dancer) is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s department of Dance and Choreography. She has preformed in repertory pieces by Keith Thompson, Doug Varone, Lar Lubovitch, Robert Battle, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar and many others. She received the Carpenter Foundation Scholarship and the Phi Kappa Phi Wayne C Hall Arts Scholarship. Her work has been presented at Greenspace in NY, The Tank in NJ, the Clarice Smith Performing Arts 25 annual choreographer’s showcase in MD, and at Henrico High School as a guest artist. Megan has also enjoyed teaching for the past eight years at Center Stage Performing Arts and Encore. She teaches classical Ballet at the Latin Ballet.

Maria Dolores (Dhol) Tuason (dancer) was born in the Philippines. Dhol has studied various forms of dance since childhood. She specializes in Tango Argentino and Latin American social dances. She has also studied Modern and Lyrical dance at Ingrid’s Dance Theater. She graduated with a BS in Nursing and works at MCV in Cardiac Surgery ICU as a Clinical Coordinator. She teaches Yoga and Zumba at the Latin Ballet.

Melissa Phillips (dancer) started her ballet training with the Chamber Ballet of Corvallis, in Oregon. At the age of 16 she became a principal dancer with Rainbow Dance Theatre in Oregon, a dance troupe that performed Modern, West African, Haitian dance, and Hip Hop. She danced with the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. Melissa is a yoga-alliance certified yoga teacher at the 200-hour level. She teaches Yoga and Modern/African at the Latin Ballet

Allison LaNeave (dancer) studied dance at Virginia Commonwealth University and with the Richmond Ballet.  She has worked with such artists as Scott Putman, Chris Burnside, and Tommy Parlon and danced with Ground Zero Dance.  She is certified in children dance education from New York. She teaches Classical Ballet and Capoeira for Children at the Latin Ballet.

Nadine Azoulay (dancer) started dancing at the age of 3 in England. She has studied classical Ballet, Character Dance and Flamenco at the Ottawa Ontario School of Dance and at the Royal Conservatory for Dance and Music in Netherlands, Holland. She graduated high school from the HAVO for Dance and Music, in Rotterdam. In the USA, she danced with the Washington School of Ballet. She is currently a dance and choreography major and a minor in Art at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Lauren Davis (dancer) began dancing at age 4 in Northern Virginia. She continued her dance education at Northern Virginia Community College and The George Washington University.  She taught at the Virginia Institute of Performing Arts in Fairfax County. While with VIParts she created, directed and choreographed for two award winning competitive dance teams.

Tracy Johnson (dancer) has a bachelor of Exercise Science degree and has been teaching fitness classes for over a decade.  She is the creator of “Soulsa”, a unique style that combines Hip Hop, Funk and Afro-Latin Dances. She has made numerous community based projects for children through local schools, recreation and parks and colleges.

Frances Wessells (guest artist) has been involved in dance and theater all her life. After receiving her MA in dance from New York University, she taught Modern dance at Sweet Briar College, then Westhampton (now University of Richmond) then VCU where she still teaches improvisation. For 25 years, she was the dance critic for the Richmond Times Dispatch. She has choreographed a total of 30 major musicals for local theaters including Theater Virginia, Swift Creek Mill, Barksdale, Ft. Lee and Dogwood Dell. She has also performed in New York City and Colorado with Hanya Holm’s Dance Company. 

Rebecca Wilson (guest artist) Dancer, choreographer and professor of Flamenco. She started studies of Flamenco with her mother Nancy and from the age of 10 she has performed with her dance troupe, Nancy y Las Majas. She studied in Spain with Alicia Coral, Manolo “El Greco” and world-renown dancer and choreographer Jose Galvan. She retuned to the U.S. Rebecca teaches Flamenco at Old Dominion University.

Kevin Davis & Ban Caribe Ensemble (Music Director - Educational Program Assistant) Master percussionist, composer and singer, Kevin Davis began his career with the Drum and Bugle Corps in New York City. Influenced by the popular music of Sam Cooke, Tito Puente and Eddie Palmieri, Kevin performed with many world music ensembles throughout New York City. After studying abroad in the islands of Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Jamaica, he relocated to Virginia to complete his formal education at Virginia State University, His love for Caribbean music led him to the creation of Ban Caribe Ensemble in 1984.

Ram Bhagat & Drums No Guns (guest artist). Ram has a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from the Virginia State University and a Bachelor in Science in Biology Education from VCU. He is the director of Drums No Guns, a performing arts organization that promotes youth non-violence. He utilizes the power of rhythm to strengthen individuals and communities and inspire youth to build self-confidence and promote creative expression. He created the educational program Science and Artistic Perception that incorporates drumming, drama and dancing with Chemistry.

Mario Duque (composer) received a Bachelor of Arts in Music at the Instituto de Bellas Artes in Medellín. He founded and directed the group Los Rebeledes for 27 years. The composer of the LBV production, ‘Macondo,’ he extracted the most profound meaning from the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, bringing with it a warm and tropical message that, in a mysterious and magical way, is being represented through music and dance.

David Robinson (Flamenco guitarist, composer) has a Bachelor of Music degree in composition and a Master of Music in Classical Guitar Performance from Virginia Commonwealth University. Mr. Robinson has composed works for the Latin Ballet and the VCU guitar ensemble. He is the director of guitar studies at The Collegiate School. David also teaches at the VCU Community School of Performing Arts and Guitar Works.

Kathy Robinson (Flamenco guitarist) has a Bachelor of Music in guitar performance and a Masters of Music Education from Virginia Commonwealth University. She directs the orchestra and guitar programs at Manchester and Lloyd C. Bird High Schools in Chesterfield County as well as teaching at VCU. She has studied at the Sienna Summer Music Institute in Italy and at the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado.

Marc S. Langelier (bass recorder, bass ocarina, composer) studied Composition, Electric Bass and Synthesis at VCU. He utilizes the haunting melodic sounds of the Bass Recorder, Native American Flute, Bass Ocarina, Moceno, and EWI.

Frank Eugene Rourk, (Flamenco guitarist) the son of Nicaraguan immigrants, was born in Washington, D.C. He lived in Spain from 2004 to 2007. He studied Flamenco guitar in Spain at the Cristina Heeren Foundation for the Art of Flamenco. He studied with the maestros Jose Luis Balao, Ricardo Modregro, and Jose Jimenez “el Viejin.” He has performed in Madrid, Seville, New York, Washington D.C. and Prague.

Adam Chamberlin (Lighting Designer/Technical Director) received a MFA in Theatrical Design from the University of Texas at Austin, and a BA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.  He is currently an Assistant Professor and Lighting Designer for Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Dance and Choreography. In addition to his work with the Latin Ballet of Virginia, he is also the Director of Production for Amaranth Contemporary Dance, and lighting designer for KDance. He designed for a variety of groups including The Cowboy Junkies, Little Feat and Tangokenisis, He has designed  for renowned choreographers such as Daniel Gwirtzman, Jawole Zollar, Robert Battle, Tania Isaacs, Heidi Weiss, Misha Bosma, Donald McCayle, and a restaging of Jose Limón.