SWAMPSCOTT — A long-time Swampscott boutique donated more than 100 dance shoes to a non-profit dance academy based out of Lynn.
Infinity Boutique has been waiting for the right dance school to come along to donate the shoes to, according to owner Pauline Spirito. The total worth of the dance shoes, including those fit for jazz, ballet, and tap, is more than $3,000 and Yaya Rodriguez, founder of Cultura Latina Dance Academy, said she could not be more grateful.
“I was extremely excited because we are in a community where, most of the time, the students and their families can’t afford these things,” said Rodriguez.
Spirito was in search of a dance school from Lynn that would be interested in performing during her fashion show. During a Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce event, someone referred the Lynn dance academy to Spirito but that was not where the friendship of the two women began.
“I saw an article in the Lynn Daily Item and it talked about the (Cultura) Latina Dance Academy doing a dance number as part of a Hispanic Heritage month celebration,” said Spirito. “I put the two names together (Rodriguez and the Cultura Latina Dance Academy) and called Yaya and asked her about the company. She mentioned the academy had 150 students and it was a non-profit that helped students who can’t afford to take lessons on their own.”
The boutique owner said it rang a bell in her mind that this was exactly who she wanted to donate the shoes to. Her boutique has had them in untouched boxes for over a year, just waiting for the right moment to be given out. Rodriguez said her dance academy has received donations in the past, but nothing of this quantity.
“I can’t even describe how much this is going to change the course of the academy,” she said.
Rodriguez founded the academy in 2011 with a co-director and a group of her friends. She teaches Latin rhythm, bachata, salsa, merengue, hip-hop, ballet, break-dancing, belly dancing, Zumba, and traditional Dominican Republic dance out of the Lynn Arts building. She has students as young as two years old and has a number of classes for adults. The academy recently won the Salsa Fest in Connecticut.
Rodriguez said she is trying to find the best way to distribute the shoes to her students. Ideally, the academy will be able to give every student at least one pair of shoes.
“The size variety is large and it’s great because we have older kids who wear adult sizes,” she said. “My plan is to see who needs them the most and then distribute them throughout the season.”
