ABOUT THE PROGRAM 

CLASSES & TRAINING East Side Performing Arts Professional Training & Youth Dance Program (ESPA - PTP & ESPA - YDP) is an internationally award winning dance program that offers accredited dance education in a friendly, nurturing environment, community and international training and performance opportunities for dancers of all ages, as well as mentorship for dancers and families, instilling a deep passion and discipline in order to prepare for all aspects of a professional and/or collegiate career. Dancers in the East Side Performing Arts Professional Training & Youth Dance Program have the unique opportunity to not only train in a versatile regiment of codified techniques with an internationally renowned professional faculty, but also gain vital professional experience while performing with the resident companies of ESPA. Classes include ballet technique, pointe technique, modern technique, contemporary movement principles, musical theater and pilates. ‍ ‍

‍ ‍PERFORMANCES & COMPETITIONS ESPA - PTP & ESPA - YDP dancers participate in our annual production of The Nutcracker, and our annual full length production with The International Ballet Stars at BASS CONCERT HALL in the spring, as well as, classical and contemporary mixed repertoire performances throughout the season, including the annual Connec(TX)ions Dance Festival. ESPA - PTP & ESPA - YDP dancers also have the option to participate in the world’s largest international competitive dance scholarship events, in addition to national and international performance opportunities through our abroad studies program.‍

THE DIFFERENCE‍ ‍When you walk into ESPA, the difference is tangible. The brand new, state of the art facility is one of a kind with its beautifully expansive space, and floor to ceiling windows, white box theater, and pianos, you’ll know immediately this is not only where we come to express ourselves in an environment that provides the highest level classical, modern, and contemporary training and performance experiences for aspiring dancers, but more importantly, where we are taken care of as human beings first, where we are acknowledged as full academics, in addition to full artists, where we foster and facilitate outside experiences to form well rounded people in a regiment suited for children and young adults, not just technically and artistically proficient dancers, but passionate, confident, capable, mature, humble and well rounded individuals who can do so much more than just dance.The life of a dancer is an obscure one, with a lot of confusion and misinformation, and we emphatically believe dancers and their families deserve to have a firm grasp on what this path actually looks like, with nurturing guidance and applicable connections from those who have done this professionally their entire lives. ESPA is unique in that ALL FACULTY have danced in major professional companies as full time careered dancers, in addition to college education, so you can rest assured whoever is teaching your dancer’s class, comes from the highest level of dance and performance experience. Families and dancers in the ESPA- PTP and ESPA-YDP programs meet regularly with our director to discuss the PERSONAL PATH for each dancer, as it is different for each one. One hundred percent of our fully committed ESPA professional training members have gone on to not only reach their goals with the incredibly specific guidance and organization from our director, whether that be attending a year round ballet school (such as San Francisco Ballet School), a professional dance career, a dance major in college, or professional dance and college together, but also create connections and friendships that will last a lifetime.

Are you interested in our programs? Please contact PTP@EastSidePerformingArts.com for more information.