WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — The founders of an Uptown dance school that offers pay-what-you-can classes for kids and teens launched an online fundraiser last week to support its efforts.
The organizers behind Dance Project of Washington Heights are hoping to raise $10,000 to purchase equipment for students, mirrors for the studio spaces and to fund a waiting area for parents and caretakers.
"Our goal is to be open and accessible to everybody," said Dance Projects co-founder Heather White Godfrey. "We want to provide classes to everyone in the community, regardless of background or income, and the fundraiser will help us to expand our reach."
Godfrey and Susan Dodge founded the Dance Project in 2012, which currently offers classes to about 250 students per year. Participants are as young as 18 months and as old as in their teens.
“We started with one class a week and now we have 29 a week,” said Estee Pouleris, a board member whose daughter participated in the first class. “It’s crazy, the demand for this up here.”
Pouleris said the Dance Project is unique because the classes operate on a drop-in, by-donation basis.
"With young kids, you can’t always get them to be nice for the day, let alone commit to a dance class," Pouleris said. "So having that flexibility of dropping in rather than signing up for a whole semester in advance is great.”
Her daughter no longer participates in the program because of a scheduling conflict, but Pouleris was so affected by the program that she chose to become a board member of the organization.
“I met a whole group of mothers with children my age,” she said of the class. “We developed a whole community, and those are moms I hang out with to this day.”
Pouleris said the organization hopes to build those types of relationships among people from different parts of the neighborhood, including adults.
“We want that waiting area where parents can network and really form a community,” she said.
A portion of the $10,000 goal would be used to rent additional classroom space at the United Palace Theater, one of the program’s three locations, for parents to hang out during classes.
The rest of the money would go toward purchasing movable mirrors for the classrooms, as well as ballet and tap shoes that students can rent for a low price during class.
“We really need to provide that because we want to attract all students, not just those who can afford the shoes,” said Pouleris, noting that a pair of children’s tap shoes from Payless cost $25.
Eighteen people had donated to the GoFundMe campaign as of Wednesday afternoon — bringing the fundraising total to $1,140 — with several commenting on the positive impact of the program.
“I can personally say that Dance Project of Washington Heights brings families together and works to engage community,” wrote Solomon Starr. “My son would wake up so excited to go and it was such a great opportunity to connect with people who wish to bless their children in the same way.”
Dance Project of Washington Heights kicks off its fall schedule of classes on Sept. 12.
