Westmoreland City has quietly become one of the region's most vital centers for folk dance training—if you know where to look. From a 40-year-old academy where Hungarian master teachers lead community classes, to a conservatory where students archive disappearing dances in museum basements, these four institutions offer paths for every level of commitment.
Westmoreland Folk Dance Academy: The Accessible Entry Point
At 6 p.m. on Thursdays, the second-floor studio of Westmoreland Folk Dance Academy smells of rosin and wool. Twenty students, ages 8 to 68, stamp through the final measures of a csárdás as instructor Mária Kovács—who trained at Budapest's Hungarian State Folk Ensemble—counts in Hungarian above the accordion's wheeze.
Founded in 1985 by Ukrainian immigrant dancer Olena Shevchenko, the academy has outlasted three neighborhood gentrification cycles in the historic Garfield district. Shevchenko, now 78 and mostly retired, still attends the academy's annual "Echoes of Heritage" showcase each March at the Westmoreland Cultural Trust's 900-seat theater. The 2024 edition sold out in four days.
The academy's curriculum spans regional Appalachian clogging, Eastern European line dances, and newer additions like Mexican jarabe and Philippine tinikling. Beginners can start with 12-week sessions ($180); the pre-professional track requires four years of progressive study.
Pro tip: Parking is limited to street meters and a small lot shared with a church. Arrive 20 minutes early, or take the 71B bus, which stops at the corner.
Heritage Dance Conservatory: For Students Who Want Context
If the academy emphasizes doing, the Heritage Dance Conservatory emphasizes understanding. Students here spend as many hours in the Carnegie Museum of Natural History's anthropology archives as they do in the conservatory's Squirrel Hill studios, researching the social function of dances before learning the steps.
This partnership, formalized in 2019 as the "Living Archive Project," has students transcribe field recordings from the 1930s, interview immigrant community elders, and reconstruct dances considered lost. Last year, a consortium student, Derek Okonkwo, presented research on Igbo atarodo dance at the Society for Ethnomusicology's annual conference—while still enrolled in the conservatory's three-year intensive ($2,400/year).
"Technical training is available anywhere," says director Amara Okafor, a former Fulbright scholar to Ghana. "We produce dancer-scholars who can explain why a dance matters, not just execute it."
The conservatory's free quarterly lecture-demonstration series, held at the Heinz History Center, offers the lowest-risk entry point for curious newcomers. The next event, "Dance of the Diaspora: Caribbean Routes," is scheduled for November 14.
City Center for Performing Arts: Tradition Meets Contemporary Stage
The City Center for Performing Arts occupies a complicated position in Westmoreland's folk dance ecosystem. Primarily known for its pre-professional ballet program and modern dance company, it launched its folk dance division only in 2016—funded by a three-year NEA grant that has since expired.
The division's survival depends on demonstrating value to institutional funders who prioritize innovation over preservation. The result: folk dance here is consistently reframed through contemporary choreography. Resident choreographer Yuki Tanaka, formerly of Batsheva Dance Company, has created works that splice Japanese bon odori with Gaga technique; her "Folk/Now" trilogy has toured to Jacob's Pillow and the Joyce Theater.
This approach generates both opportunity and tension. Folk dance students at City Center receive exceptional contemporary training and professional networking, but some community members criticize the aesthetic as extractive—using traditional material without sustained community accountability.
The division accepts 12 dancers annually by audition, with significant financial aid available. Performances occur at the center's downtown theater and, increasingly, in site-specific locations: last season's finale unfolded in the stripped nave of a deconsecrated church in Lawrenceville.
Folkloric Ensemble of Westmoreland: The Professional Track
For dancers seeking performance careers, the Folkloric Ensemble of Westmoreland represents the most demanding path—and the most visible. Members commit to 15 hours of weekly rehearsal, plus six to eight weeks of annual tour.
Last season's itinerary: São Paulo's Festival de Inverno, Estonia's Tallinn Dance Festival, and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., where the ensemble performed on the National Mall for an estimated 12,000 attendees.
Membership is capped at 24 dancers, with annual auditions held each January. The ensemble maintains no formal school; most members have trained at one of the three institutions above, or equivalent programs elsewhere. Ages range from 21 to 45,
