With two decades of dazzling audiences already behind it, BalletX on Washington Avenue was seeking a way to make a tighter connection with the surrounding community.
The premier contemporary ballet company wanted to unite the incredibly talented dancers with local residents by removing a few barriers.
“We have this extraordinary space where we make new ballets for the stage and we thought how can we open up our space to bring people in? And how can we build bridges to get folks to experience dance in different ways? said Christine Cox, Artistic & Executive Director of BalletX. “It’s important to remove the barrier of cost and remove the barrier of judgment. Make it free and make it fun and build a community that is a part of our journey at BalletX.”
Last year, Free Fridays at BalletX were born as the studio at 1923 Washington Ave. began hosting dancers at any level to participate in a pair of free classes each month. The same studio space that created nearly 160 world premieres was used to create thousands of smiles and memories through BalletX’s program.
The free classes are designed for both first-time movers and experienced dancers alike to embrace their creativity, forge new connections and celebrate the joy of moving together.
With support from PNC Arts Alive, BalletX invites participants to explore several variations of dance, including ballet, line dancing, salsa, African dance and contemporary movement.
Each Free Friday begins with an hour-long beginner/intermediate ballet class at 5:30 p.m. A second class, featuring a fresh theme each month, begins at 6:45 p.m.
“We start with a beginner ballet class and then we get into all kinds of different classes that get people excited to come to the studio and feel like they are in a space where they can enjoy exploring movement,” Cox said. “We are trying to create experiences that inspire human connection. And we want it to be extraordinary.”
On Oct. 2, the class was Beginner Vogue Femme Elements with Rylee Locker. The next Free Friday on Nov. 6 will be Lindy Hop 101 with Mike McDermott and Kate Holden of Jazz Attack.
Cox said the classes have been wildly popular and more than 850 people have pre-registered for Free Fridays throughout the season, which runs through June.
Cox stressed that the free classes are a place with absolutely no judgment. It’s a place to explore.
“Through culture and our society, if we continue to make that possible for young people and create spaces where they are not being judged in any way, then I think we are a more joyful nation and more happy and connected as a society,” she said.
In addition to BalletX’s Free Fridays, the group will continue to perform free Community Pop-Ups in neighborhoods and public spaces across the city. It will also continue growing Dance eXchange — its longstanding in-school dance education program providing nearly 500 Philadelphia public school students each year with free dance instruction, live music and performance opportunities.
Dance eXchange teaches third- and fourth-grade students at six city public schools over a 24-week program that has classes twice a week.
“We send in experienced teaching artists and a musician to go in and get classrooms moving,” Cox said. “For a lot of kids, it might be their favorite class of the day. They get to move and bring their sneakers and they get to be free. And we rent the Mandell Theater at Drexel for a week and all these 500-plus kids get to perform in the theater, many for the first time. It’s all free and the families get to come and it’s the culmination of a year’s work of dancing.”
The Marian Anderson School in South Philly’s Graduate Hospital neighborhood and the Stephen Girard School in Girard Estates are two of the schools that partake in the program, which continues to grow.
“We have second-grade teachers who are really interested in jumping in,” said Director of Education & Dance eXchange Jennifer Tierney. “We just taught our first second-grade class (Oct. 1) so we will cross the 500-student line comfortably this season.”
BailetX will open its 21st season with Fall Series 2026, Nov. 4-15 at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre. The two-week run features three works, including the world premiere of Speakeasy by Loughlan Prior, a theatrical contemporary ballet inspired by Prohibition-era Philadelphia. Amy Hall Garner’s high-energy Switching the Groove, which blends ballet, rhythm and musicality, also returns. Christian Denice’s In the Wake, a meditation on healing, memory and connection, rounds out the program.
The company will celebrate with a Season Opening Gala on Nov. 3 that invites fans from across the region to party in style with food by 12th Street Catering, festive cocktails, dancing and more.
It rounds out an impressive workload that continues by uniting with its community.
“Twenty years is really significant, but when you pass an anniversary, the work really takes shape,” Cox said. “It’s taken us 21 years to get to this really important moment in time where we really just hone in on how important our relationship is with the community.”
To register for Free Friday classes or learn more about upcoming Community Pop-Ups, Dance eXchange and other BalletX community programs, visit BalletX.org. ••
