Hinton Battle is bringing his dance workshop, Soul Dance & BBQ, to D.C. (Courtesy Photo)
Driven by his love of dance and desire to help lower income children, three time Tony Award winner, and NAACP Image Award recipient, Hinton Battle is set to open dance workshops in D.C.
Even though Battle had the option of choosing to hold his workshops in New York, he chose D.C. because of the growing creative culture. Soul Dance & BBQ, whose name is inspired by the belief that when anyone dances they feed their soul no matter the type of dance, is scheduled to occur on Oct. 17 from 2:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Edgewood Arts Center, 3225 8th Street NE.
“Since being back in D.C., I’ve noticed that the arts are flourishingly unbelievably here and the cities behind it,” Battle said. “I’ve met a lot of kids here that want to dance, but haven’t had the financial opportunity to study. I want to create dance venues that they can take and come and learn great things by great people that are affordable.”
Single dance sessions will be $32.64 and barbeque will be $27.37. The workshops will include dance forms, such as tap, contemporary, hip-hop, African and ballet. All classes will be taught by some of D.C. and New York’s most notable master dance instructors.
Battle, who grew up in Washington, D.C. and New York, is an actor, singer, dancer and instructor, who started his theatrical career at the age of nine under a very persuasive mother. For three years, he studied at the Jones Haywood School of Ballet, in Northwest. Battle also attended The School of American Ballet in New York City, where he studied until the age of 15, when he was cast in his debut role on Broadway as the scarecrow in “The Wiz”.
“I had very good training at one of the best schools in the country, which at the time for an African American dark boy was not easy,” he told the AFRO. “In a lot of cases I had roles created for me that did not even exist until I showed up.”
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit soul-dancebbq.com.