Did you know that the International Folk Culture Center offers a variety of dance classes not only to the OLLU community but also to the West Side community? The City of San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department utilizes the vast amount of space in the IFCC to host several different dance classes for school-age children and adults.

Upon entering the building and arriving on the third floor where the 6 p.m. ballet/tap class was about to start, a tiny cherub-like 4-year-old girl in full ballet garb popped out from behind her great-grandmother. She was decked out in her leotard, ballet shoes and skirt.

The girl’s great-grandmother, Maria Saldana, had brought Aiyanna to her first day of ballet/tap class. Saldana said, “I had found the ad in the newspaper and figured it would be good for her to release energy cause she is always jumping around.”

The class that Aiyanna was attending runs for 30 minutes and costs $25 plus other necessities like shoes and ballet outfits.

The Parks and Recreation Department offers a variety of classes from flamenco to ballet folkloric. By checking out the Web site you can view the schedules and times.

The instructor for the ballet/tap class, Bianca Mendoza, is a first-year instructor but has been dancing for more than 10 years. She started teaching dance because, “my mom had seen an ad and thought I would make a good instructor, (so) we contacted the Parks and Recreation and went from there.”

Not only does Mendoza teach the ballet/tap class, but she also teaches a ballet folkloric class right after. She mentioned that she is afraid that her classes might be cancelled because of too few students. “I have to have at least four students in each class,” she said.

For more information on the classes, contact the International Folk and Culture Center at (210) 431-3922.