PILSEN — Dulce Rendon started dancing when she was in sixth grade as part of a free folklorico group performing traditional Latin American dances choreographed by group members themselves.
Although she was passionate about dance, her parents couldn't afford to pay or drive her to any formal dance classes.
Now the 18-year-old senior at Benito Juarez Community Academy is trying to become a professional dancer.
"Not having formal training or access to formal training from an early age makes it hard to pursue a professional career," Rendon explained. "Most professional dancers start taking classes when they're about 3 years old."
In order to curb those challenges for future generations of aspiring dancers, Rendon and other Benito Juarez students teamed up with two of their teachers to bring a dance studio with classical dance training to Pilsen this summer.
Instructors Barbara San-Roman and Dianne Martinez came up with the idea for Recycled Barre last summer after discussing the void of dance studios in Pilsen and other South Side communities.
"As a child I was interested in taking dance classes, but there were none offered in Brighton Park where I grew up," said Martinez, a history teacher at Benito Juarez. "These dance classes were located in the North Side, which I couldn't get to because we had no car. My dream to become a dancer was smashed earlier on."
Mauricio Pena discusses how the program got started:
Martinez took her first dance class as a senior at Curie Metro High School.
"That year, I was able to take free dance classes at Gallery 37 and Columbia College," Martinez said. "It was a great experience, but it was difficult keeping up because I hadn't been dancing from a young age. I couldn't compete with these girls who had been dancing their whole lives."
Similarly, San-Roman, a native of Florida who now lives in Pilsen, faced the same struggles finding affordable and accessible classes in her community. Like Martinez, the thought of pursuing a dancing career was out of the question.
The Benito Juarez teachers volunteered to teach dance after school for three years, and they noticed not much had changed since they grew up.
San-Roman said, "Classes are expensive, and for students to get to a studio, they need to take two buses and a train."
San-Roman and Martinez wanted to eliminate those challenges for students in low-income communities; they couldn't invest in a brand-new studio, so they started to look elsewhere.
"We decided to do research into abandoned [Chicago Public Schools] buildings, which are plenty on the South and West sides, and we said why not revamp and re-purpose a room in these underutilized spaces?" San-Roman said.
Through Recycled Barre, San-Roman and Martinez have been working with CPS, the Chicago Park District and other organizations to create a one-room, community-focused studio in a school using recycled materials, San-Roman said.
San-Roman and Martinez are already set to open a studio this summer in Pilsen, and they are in talks with another school in Englewood but have yet to announce the locations until all the details are finalized.
Now the duo will have their first fundraiser on June 5 at No Manches Co., 1800 S. Morgan St. from 6-9 p.m., which they hope will raise money for the studio, which they estimate to be $4,000 before labor and technology.
When the studio launches in the summer, the classes will be open to all ages. But certain classes will be restricted to youths. Classes will cost $5 for students, parents and faculty and $10 for people in the community who are interested in taking classes, as opposed to $15, which is standard pricing for a dance class, Martinez said.
In order to keep costs low, Recycled Barre is working with the Dance Center at Columbia College and Loyola University, where college-level students studying dance will teach some of the ballet, jazz and hip-hop dance classes at the studios.
Kelsa Robinson, instructor and full-time faculty member at the Dance Center at Columbia College, said she was excited about the partnership between her seminar and Recycled Barre, coming together on the mutual idea of asset-based community development, where resources from the community are used to further develop the community.
"Recycled Barre has a well-thought out mission, vision statement and is well-structured program that aligns with a course I teach that utilizes dance as a tool for building healthy, vibrant communities," Robinson said.
"Recycled Barre has identified a real need in these communities," Robinson said. "Kids gravitate towards dance, they learn through their bodies, it's their way of expressing themselves."
In addition to working with college-level dance students, high school interns will get some entrepreneurial experience by helping to run the studio, San-Roman said.
"It's not just dance, it's also about how we are developing our communities, and how we are developing small business through dance," San-Roman said.
"We are targeting communities labeled low-income," Martinez said. "But just because they are labeled low-income doesn't mean they aren't thriving communities. Pilsen is a thriving community with tons of local artists, and infrastructure, and yet no dance studios."
Students who have been taking part in San-Roman and Martinez's afterschool dance program at Benito Juarez are excited for the prospect to work and take dance classes in their own neighborhood.
"This is going to be a huge benefit for our community," said Gelxi Ventura, 15. "It's going to give us a place to express ourselves and a space where we can go and learn from professional dancers."
For Rendon, who is a few months away from graduating, she plans to continue to help with Recycled Barre once it opens in Pilsen this summer.
"Dance taught me responsibility and discipline," Rendon said. "This studio will open new opportunities and new experiences to a lot of people."
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