Tuition-Free Dance Classes Available For New Orleans Area Youth Ages 4-18

The New Orleans Ballet Association's Center for Dance, in partnership with the New Orleans Recreation Development Commission (NORD), will hold registrations beginning Aug. 23 for the fall 2021 semester of tuition-free, after-school dance classes for ages 4-18.

The NOBA Center for Dance's nationally award-winning, tuition-free Early Childhood Program (ages 4-5) and Preparatory Program (ages 6-18) provide sequentially based technique classes in ballet, modern, jazz, hip hop, movement and conditioning. Classes will be held at nine NORD Rec Centers - Behrman, Cut Off, Gernon Brown, Joe W. Brown, Lyons, Rosenwald, St. Bernard, Stallings St. Claude, and Tremé.

Registration for any child with a demonstrated interest will be filled on a first come, first served basis. Classes begin the week of Sept. 13 and will culminate in December with a costumed performance as part of NOBA's Neighborhood Concert Series. A $15 registration fee (payable in cash only) is due at the time of registration per type of class and center. NOBA continues to follow local, state and federal health and safety COVID guidelines; masks are required for NOBA classes and activities for all ages.

Through the CFD's sequential structure, a clear pathway of training and support is established for a child to begin at age four and continue with the high-quality training that prepares them for a career in dance or any chosen field - all tuition-free. Early Childhood and Preparatory Program students matriculate through the levels of training to the internationally recognized Pre-Professional Program with unprecedented access to training with master artists, performance opportunities with major international companies, and more.

NOBA enters the 30th year of providing high-quality dance instruction, promoting health, fitness and the arts, while encouraging students to develop valuable life skills. Through the collective vision of the New Orleans City Council, Office of the Mayor, NORD and NOBA, the unique, public-private partnership between NORD and NOBA bore the CFD, launched in September 1992 at the Behrman Center with just 30 children and, to date, has made possible nearly 70,000 tuition-free classes and activities for over 27,000 people - age 4-80+ - valued at almost $8 million. The program has garnered national recognition and awards along the way, including the Coming Up Taller Award by the President's Commission on the Arts and the Humanities.

In addition, NOBA currently offers ongoing tuition-free health/wellness and arts healing classes programming for adults, including the Senior Dance Fitness for ages 55+, Dance for Parkinson's, and Freedom of Movement classes for Veterans. Tuition-free Open Community Classes in ballet and modern for ages 14 and up will return to the Lyons Rec Center in September.

For more information about NOBA programming and class schedules, visit www.nobadance.com or call 504.522.0996.

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