Tony Williams Dance Center
About
Tony Williams Dance Center in Jamaica Plain offers dance instruction to children and adults from across Boston’s diverse communities. The school runs a graded ballet program and also teaches Folklorico, hip-hop, salsa, modern, lyrical, flamenco, jazz and tap. Its mission holds that quality dance builds physical and mental discipline and serves as a form of cultural education, and its students, families and faculty reflect a wide range of backgrounds across Greater Boston.
Founder and artistic director Tony Williams turned from trouble as a street gang member to ballet, building on an opportunity provided to him through Boston Ballet, and went on to dance as a principal with Boston Ballet, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Portugal’s Gulbenkian Ballet and the Norwegian National Ballet. Students perform in a yearly recital and in the Urban Nutcracker, City Ballet of Boston’s holiday production that blends Tchaikovsky with Duke Ellington and multicultural dance styles.
What to Know
- Need-based scholarships, supported by individual donors, help students from across Boston attend classes.
- Williams has received the Dance Teacher Magazine Award and Wheelock Family Theater’s Wheel Award.
- He has been honored as a Boston Dance Alliance Dance Champion.
- The center brings together urban and suburban kids who might not otherwise meet.
Is this your business?
Claim it to add hours, photos, a description and a spotlight story.