Transforming Lives through the Power of Dance

K-12 STEAM education

Central LA South LA

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

As a core part of our mission, EDLA! supports historically under-resourced communities throughout L.A., where many families lack the opportunity for high-quality dance and after-school programming. All After-School students are classified as low-income at the time of enrollment and qualify for the federally subsidized free or reduced meals program. Dance is a safe space for adolescent and teenage girls who drop out of competitive sports, as it improves their mental and physical health. The students we serve would have no access to this type of dance program if it weren’t for EDLA!
Over the past several years, we have expanded our After-School Program, strengthened our In-School Program, surpassed our goals for program retention, and expanded opportunities for Enrichment Program participants. We now serve more than 7,000 students, aged 4 to 19, across Los Angeles. To manage this continued growth, we need to increase our staffing.

EDLA!’s After-School program provides high-quality, culturally competent dance education and enrichment programming for over 600 students ages 4 to 18 at five sites across Los Angeles. EDLA! teaches a variety of dance forms, including ballet, modern, hip hop, breaking, jazz, salsa, Afro-Brazilian, West African, and Mexican folklorico. We align our dance curriculum with the Visual and Performing Arts Content Standards under California Dance Standards.
Many After-School dancers participate in more than one dance genre per week and spend several afternoons in our studios. We provide students with opportunities to perform in the community and participate in an end-of-year recital, attend professional dance shows, and engage in master classes with community partners, Los Angeles Dance Project, BODYTRAFFIC, Versa-Style, and USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. New and returning students can try new styles of dance during the four-week Summer Session.
During the 2023-24 dance season, we launched a pilot After-School Program site in Watts on Saturdays, serving 30 youth, which received an enthusiastic response. We doubled the size of our program during the 2024-25 period, and now we aim to expand it further. Currently, however, we are at the limits of what our current staff can handle. We aim to create a Program Coordinator position to recruit additional students, particularly at the Watts site, conduct community outreach, and support the management of our growing program's logistics.

The After-School program expansion site in Watts is a vital part of EDLA!’s goal to reach a broader swath in Los Angeles. During the grant period, we will work to increase enrollment at EDLA!’s After-School Program sites, particularly the three new sites we launched in 2023-24, through recruitment efforts, community outreach, new community partnerships, and ongoing diversified parent/family communication. At our Watts program, we will serve an additional 30 students. We want to increase the number of new students enrolled in the After-School program by 5% across all sites.
Our After-School Program is where we can have the most significant long-term impact. Numerous studies in education and after-school programming indicate that long-term relationships with students are the most effective, particularly for low-income students. Of our seniors who graduated from high school in 2025, several had been with EDLA since the age of four.