Cultura Latina Dance Academy

Cultura Latina Dance Academy is a nonprofit dance school in Lynn offering Latin dance classes for kids, teens, and adults. Its mission is to enhance, share, and connect cultures and community through dance. Programs include salsa, merengue, and bachata, traditional folkloric dances that honor Latin American heritage, classical ballet, high-energy urban styles, and acrobatics. Along with technique, students learn leadership, self-esteem, discipline, and teamwork, and classes stress respect and tolerance.

Founder and director Yaya, an experienced dancer and choreographer, started the academy in 2011 after community groups, churches, and nonprofits invited her to create folkloric dances. That experience and the needs of her community led her, with the help of a board of directors, to establish the organization formally. Today it serves as a cultural hub offering opportunities, support, and representation to underserved communities, along with cultural events that celebrate Latin heritage.

What to Know

• After-school programs and urban dance classes for teens serve the North Shore.
• Custom choreography is available for weddings, sweet sixteens, and quinceañeras.
• The academy describes itself as an award-winning organization recognized for its cultural programs.
• Classes are designed around one-on-one student attention.