BALAM Dance Theatre

09/29/2026

📣Not performed since 2024, BALAM Dance Theatre’s Ramayana: Abduction of Sita—an action-packed story ballet inspired by the Hindu epic—takes the main stage once again for the annual showcase, World Dance Festival: Dancing Across Cultural Borders, presented by Lotus Music and Dance .

Through their dancing, a stellar cast of BALAM principal dancers, including Nani Devi, Toshinori Hamada, Robin Gilbert, Carlos Fittante, and Yumiko Niimi define the work's signature Balinese fusion.

🗓⏰Saturday & Sunday, November 21 & 22, 4:00 p.m. | Ramayana: Abduction of Sita
The Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College
524 West 59th Street, New York, NY 10019

🎟Purchase tickets at Lotus Music and Dance, https://lotusmusicanddance.org/

Photo: BALAM performs its signature work, Ramayana: Abduction of Sita.
Photo Credit: Julie Lemberger Photography

09/21/2026

📣This month’s update about 'A Baroque Extravaganza: Period Choreography and Music from Five Nations', BALAM’s ambitious 2027 Gotham Early Music Scene ’s (GEMS) project, examines sources recently acquired from Madrid, Spain.

Thanks to mezzo-soprano Anna Tonna’s recent visit to Madrid, Spain to perform, BALAM was able to purchase a new transcription and study by Madrileña (from Madrid) musicologist María Salud Álvarez Martínez.🎶

Martínez’s text provides a full modern notated orchestral score and a description of the original staging, as well as special effects from the 1743 performance of Viento es la Dicha de Amor. The music of this Baroque zarzuela, written by composer José de Nebra, will be the centerpiece of BALAM's GEMS 2027 program, and Tonna will perform as the guest singer in excerpts from the work.

09/17/2026

🎶 La Fiocco, a period music ensemble based in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, launches its fall season and commissioned BALAM to create a new Baroque dance program. In Sirens, Muses and Fairies, mythic characters dressed in BALAM's new collection of stunning costumes come to life through compelling Baroque choreographies.

The dances 💃🕺spotlight a reconstruction of the notated dance Passacaille d’Armide (1711) with music by Jean Baptiste Lully, alongside original BALAM Baroque choreography set to George Frederic Handel’s Chaconne de Terpsichore (1734) and Johann Bernhard Bach’s Overture in E minor Dance Suite (1720).🎵

🗓⏰📍Saturday & Sunday, October 24 & 25 | Sirens, Muses and Fairies (premiere)
Saturday, October 24. 7:30 p.m. – Christ Congregation, 50 Walnut Lane, Princeton, NJ
Sunday, October 25. 3:00 p.m. – Trinity Episcopal Church, 6587 Upper York Road, Solebury, PA

🎟Tickets: https://www.lafiocco.org/spctx/

Photo: Terpsichore's Attendant appears in a new BALAM costume featuring a Balinese Putri mask. Image designed by BALAM Dance Theatre via AI

09/15/2026

🎭BALAM Dance Theatre believes art is a vital human expression that builds community and fosters mutual support. Historically, a spirit of friendly cooperation has defined our American society, inspiring a "roll up the sleeves and work together" can-do attitude that literally moves mountains.

BALAM’s performers and staff are deeply committed and tireless individuals, who magically create beauty and meaning from meager resources.

💃As we embark on an extraordinary fall season that brings you the enchanting magic of twin Armide dancers, a new Malagueña dance for adult dance students, and the revival of our action-packed Ramayana story ballet, we need your support now!💃

Your contribution in any amount makes a huge difference and directly offsets our real, immediate production expenses, which to date include:

• Studio rentals: $800 spent for essential rehearsal space.

• Costume construction: $850 invested for new costumes, masks, and props.

Please donate and support BALAM’s eclectic, visionary work enriching communities at the grass-roots level.

🖇Donating is easy! Visit BALAM's blog, https://balamdancetheatre.blogspot.com/, and click the DONATE button or send a check payable to:

BALAM Dance Theatre
319 West 18th Street, 4C
New York, NY 10011

Your interest and support mean the world to us.

Thank you,

🙏Carlos Fittante
Artistic Director/President

Photo: BALAM takes a bow at its 2025 Gotham Early Music Scene Midtown Concerts show, Baroque Dance Fantasies about England, France, and Spain!
Photo Credit: Julie Lemberger Photography

09/09/2026

Luhrs & Associates does us an honor by spotlighting our upcoming Spanish dance workshop, 2026 Fall Dance Adventure: Malagueña. Thank you.

Looking for a new dance challenge? 💃🕺 BALAM Dance Theatre presents the 2026 Fall Dance Adventure and celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month at Marblehead School of Ballet in Marblehead, Massachusetts.

Learn a mysterious and spirited choreography to the melody of Ernesto Lecuona’s "Malagueña." All adults are welcome!

📍Marblehead School of Ballet, 115 Pleasant St., Marblehead, MA
🗓️ Thursdays, starting Sept. 10 | 6:15–7:15 PM 🌈 Optional free public showcase on Nov 22!

Instructor: BALAM Dance Theatre’s Artistic Director/President Carlos Fittante

For more details, check their calendar: https://balamdancetheatre.blogspot.com/

Photo: Carlos Fittante performs Sevillanas Photo Credit: BALAM Dance Theatre

09/09/2026

💫Enjoy vibrant Indian dance styles featuring Kuchipudi, Bharata Natyam, and Odissi, alongside the enchanting Balinese dance Oleg Tamulilingan (Love Dance of the Bumblebees) with BALAM's Nani Devi and Carlos Fittante Carlos Fittante .

🗓⏰Sunday, September 27, 4:00 p.m. | Lotus Music and Dance and Benefit

📍Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Studios (Studio 5C/D)
405 West 55th Street, New York, NY 10019

Admission: $75 to $250 ($40 Artist/Student/Senior)
Tickets: Lotus Music and Dance

🦋This intimate fundraiser benefits Lotus Music and Dance’s annual event, World Dance Festival: Dancing Across Cultural Borders on Saturday, November 21 and Sunday, November 22 at 4:00 p.m. See BALAM's action-packed story ballet, Ramayana: Abduction of Sita, during the showcase at The Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College in New York City.

09/03/2026

💃🕺Make your dance plans for the weekend and see BALAM Dance Theatre’s Carlos Fittante's performance and choreography in Mosaic Dance Theater Company’s "Inside the Faerie Realm".

🗓:⏰ Saturday, September 5, 2026 | 10:00 a.m.

🏡Location: Van Vleck House and Gardens, 21 Van Vleck St, Montclair, NJ 07042

🎟Tickets: $5 per person/$20 per family: https://montclairfoundation.org/event/inside-the-faerie-realm-ballet-performance/

Bring a blanket or lawn chair. Fairy attire welcome! 🦋

New Jersey State Council on the Arts

09/01/2026

🌟 BALAM Dance Theatre’s 2026 Fall Dance Adventure workshop celebrates Hispanic music and opens Hispanic Heritage Month with the iconic 1933 Spanish melody Malagueña by Cuban-Spanish composer Ernesto Lecuona.💃Adult dancers welcome!🕺

Workshop participants will learn stylish Spanish dance movements and use mantones (fringed Spanish shawls) in a mysterious, spirited choreography created specifically for them.

Instructor: BALAM’s Carlos Fittante ! 🎭

📍 Location: Marblehead School of Ballet, 115 Pleasant Street, Marblehead
📅 Thursdays, 6:15–7:15 PM • Class Dates: September 10 & 25, October 1 & 15, November 5 & 19

🌈Culminating optional FREE public performance on Sunday, November 22 at 2 p.m. •

Pre-registration required! 🎟️ https://tinyurl.com/MSBSchedule

Contact: 📞 (781) 631-6262 📧 [email protected]

08/21/2026

🎭During August, BALAM Dance Theatre celebrates American Artist Appreciation Month and honors the creativity of artists in the company enriching local communities and the nation's cultural identity.

🕺Find news about our performances with Mosaic Dance Theater Company, La Fiocco, Lotus Music and Dance, and Gotham Early Music Scene and the opening of our Dance Adventure Series this fall at Marblehead School of Ballet and other updates!

Learn more about these performers, choreographers, and others in the issue: Anna Tonna, mezzo soprano Robin Gilbert, Carlos Fittante, Yumiko Niimi (Yumiko Ballet NY), Nani Devi, Toshinori Hamada, Islene Pinder, and others.

🖇Get the August newsletter in the Comments below or scan the QR code.👇

Photo: BALAM’s final tableaux in Salsa Romántico, presented at the Hempstead Public Library, New York. Photo Credit: Julie Lemberger Photography with background enhanced by AI

08/19/2026

💫BALAM’s newest company members — twin sisters Erin Hunter Jennings and Faith Hunter Kimberling — are in rehearsals preparing for 'Sirens, Muses, and Fairies’.

In this new BALAM Baroque dance program, they appear as two identical visions of the character Armide.

Trained in American modern dance, the Baroque dancing of this dynamic dance duo has a nuanced vitality that is enjoyable to see.

Photo: Erin Hunter Jennings and Faith Hunter Kimberling rehearse.

Photo Credit: BALAM Dance Theatre