BALAM Dance Theatre

Home
United States
New York, NY
BALAM Dance Theatre

Call Directions Website Contact the business

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Carlos Fittante, BALAM fuses diverse traditional movement styles from different time periods.

BALAM Dance Theatre, rooted in Balinese dance and theatre, is a contemporary cultural world and historical dance company presenting traditional and fusion work. Founded in 1979 by dancer, choreographer and movement researcher Islene Pinder, BALAM Dance Theatre offers a new vision of contemporary dance rooted in the dazzling opulence and magical aura of Balinese theatre. The New York City-based dance/theatre company creates a unique entertainment experience with universal appeal. Audiences of all ages and backgrounds enjoy BALAM’s innovative movement alchemy where dynamic athleticism, detailed skills, and movement techniques from around world are fused and enhanced by eclectic music, striking masks, vibrant costumes and fantasy stories. The company educates the community about dances and cultures throughout the world. Through its Out & About Series, free and affordable performances, workshops and creative events at the grassroots level are made available for families, children, students and community residents. BALAM has been featured at numerous festivals and venues including First Night New York; Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors; Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival; Downtown Dance Festival; and has also appeared throughout the United States and internationally. The company has received praise from the New York Times and Village Voice, the Governor and people of Bali and the Indonesian Consulate of New York, as well as others. For further information, contact [email protected] or visit BALAM Dance Theatre at www.balamdancetheatre.blogspot.com.

11/03/2026

💫Bringing the Spirit of Bali to Dancing Across Borders! How does one capture the feeling of a Balinese blessing for a performance space?

This is what BALAM is exploring this month as the company prepares to perform in the two-day 2026 World Dance Festival: Dancing Across Cultural Borders, presented by Lotus Music and Dance.🌐

At the request of the presenter, BALAM's program will feature a new staged opener, Shanti Pendet (Blessing Dance), along with two of our signature works, the Balinese dance duet Oleg Tambulilingan (Love Dance of the Bumblebees) and the action-packed story ballet Ramayana: Abduction of Sita.

Dancers: Carlos Fittante, Robin Gilbert, Toshinori Hamada, Yumiko Niimi

🗓⏰BALAM's show will take place only on Saturday, November 21 at 4 p.m.

📍The Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College of Criminal Justice
524 West 59th Street, New York, NY 10019

🎟Tickets: Purchase tickets at Lotus Music and Dance. Scan the QR code in the photo or copy the address shown. Call 212-627-1076 or contact [email protected] .

Photo Credit: Julie Lemberger Photography

10/29/2026

✨Support BALAM's Work that Stands the Test of Time! 🩰🌏
Please support BALAM Dance Theatre, a contemporary cultural dance company inspired by Balinese theatre. We present original Baroque dances alongside a vibrant blend of diverse traditional cultural dances from around the world, all reimagined in a fresh, contemporary context.

BALAM’s works are often customized for communities at the grassroots level, and we also create timeless art that endures. Our signature work, Ramayana: Abduction of Sita, inspired by the great Hindu epic, premiered in the Bronx, New York in 1990. Reception for the work flourished, and the company debuted its signature work in Bali in 2000.

✨This long-standing work is now being proudly revived in Manhattan on Saturday, November 21 at Lotus Music and Dance'a 2026 World Dance Festival: Dancing Across Cultural Borders on November 21, 2026 in New York City.

Your donation in any amount makes a real difference. This directly helps cover:
• 👥 Artists’ fees for our dedicated performers
• 🧵 Costume expenses and specialized textile fabrication
• 🩰 Studio rental costs for intensive rehearsals
• 🎟️ The many other production expenses associated with presenting live dance

BALAM is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation, and donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Thank you for keeping our living history alive!

👉 Make your tax-deductible gift today.
• Scan the QR code shown in the photo.
• Visit BALAM’s profile on Facebook to our site.
• Send a check payable to:

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

Thank you for your support!

Photo: BALAM Dance Theatre's Carlos Fittante and Robin Gilbert

Photo Credit: Julie Lemberger Photography

10/27/2026

BALAM's new Baroque dance show, "Sirens, Muses, and Fairies", created for La Fiocco, directed by Lewis Baratz, premiered this weekend on October 24 & 25, 2026. Carlos Fittante created the dances and designed and built new sumptuous cosutmes for the production. Thank you Lewis and to BALAM's lovely female dancers, Robin Gilbert and Erin and Faith Jennings.

10/19/2026

🕺This weekend, BALAM Dance Theatre performs as guest artists with La Fiocco, presenting our commissioned work in their new program, Sirens, Muses, and Fairies! 💃

See BALAM’s performers -- artistic director/choreographer Carlos Fittante, Robin Gilbert, Erin Hunter Jennings, and Faith Hunter Kimberling -- present theatrical dances set to the music of Jean-Baptiste Lully, George Frideric Handel, and Johann Bernhard Bach.💫

🗓⏰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 Rd., Solebury, PA

🎟Get your tickets to see this beautiful program of lovely costumes and music. Scan the QR code in the photo or copy the address shown.

10/15/2026

🎉On the last day of National Hispanic Heritage Month, we celebrate by highlighting BALAM Dance Theatre’s performance of ‘Fandango’, a solo fantasy creation inspired by the Bishop Martinez Trujillo, Peru Companion.

Choreographer and BALAM Dance Theatre’s Artistic Director/President, Carlos Fittante, performs this blend of Spanish Escuela Bolera and Baroque dance movement, playing castanets throughout the piece. 🕺

BALAM Dance Theatre performed the piece in the production, Taking Flight, presented by the Putnam County DANCE Project.

🎶Music: Maestro Matias
Baroque Guitar: Ryan Closs🎸

Enjoy!

10/13/2026

💫BALAM bought a new mannequin, as a prop, to create new costumes for its La Fiocco show, Sirens, Muses, and Fairies. This fanciful program, commissioned by La Fiocco, premieres on October 24 and 25 in Princeton, New Jersey and Solebury, Pennsylvania.

💃Robin Gilbert, BALAM's Principal Ballerina, is featured and will debut in the role of Terpsichore-the Muse of Dance! In this collage, we see her new dress hung and decorated on the mannequin by Carlos Fittante, BALAM’s Artistic Director, who was inspired by a beautiful Baroque print of Marie Sallé by Robert Wilkinson, circa 1780. 🕺

🗓⏰📍
•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 Rd., Solebury, PA

🎟Purchase tickets: https://www.lafiocco.org/spctx/

Photo: Terpsichore Collage. Images by Robert Wilkinson, circa 1780 and BALAM Dance Theatre

10/05/2026

💃Did you know the iconic mantón Español (Spanish shawl), seen in Spanish dance, originated in China and made its way to Spain through Manila, Philippines? Once in Spain, the mantón became a beloved fashion item and the dramatic flecos, long fringe, were added in Sevilla, Spain.

BALAM’s 2026 Fall Dance Adventure Malagueña dance workshop features the use of mantones, adding mystery and skill to the work. The workshop participants love the theatrical flair the shawls add to their characters and dancing!

🗓⏰The next classes are October 15, November 5 and November 19. 6:15-7:15 p.m.

📍Location: Marblehead School of Ballet, 115 Pleasant St., Marblehead, MA

📞📩Register for the classes: Call 781-631-6262 or email [email protected]

Photo: Malaguena Workshop Lesson 2 with instructor Carlos Fittante and participant Rosemary Grant at Marblehead School of Ballet.
Photo Credit: 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

Address

18th Street
New York, NY

Telephone

+16463619183

Website

http://balamdancetheatre.blogspot.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when BALAM Dance Theatre posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.