Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre

The Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre is the only New England ballet company to produce an entire repertoire by its own resident choreographer. The ballet company was founded in 1986 and was initially located in Boston. The company moved to its current location in 2001, inside the Old Cambridge Baptist Church, where they perform inside the Sanctuary and house a ballet school. The church was built in the Gothic Revival style in 1867. While it resembles an English church on the outside, the inside reflects the form of the Old New England meeting house.

The ballet theatre was able to lease the building in return for helping with repairs. The ballet theatre also does many outreach programs. The Dance for the Commonwealth program is a local outreach program that offers reduced admissions for children, adults, and seniors, as well as dance scholarships for children of low-income families, and educational performances and lectures as schools. The ballet theatre also does the Dance for the World Community festival, which uses dance to improve social and environmental health. It is an annual festival that draws in a crowd of 15,000 people. It presents performances from 50+ New England dance companies, as well as a full day of introductory classes for children and adults, and a dancing in the street block party. 

Image courtesy of Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre (photo by Susan Young)