Dance teachers from Lilongwe Dance Programme are undergoing mentorship at the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet in United States of America.
The teachers are undergoing mentorship, thanks to a grant from the Ella Lyman Cabot Trust.
Lilongwe Dance Programme co-founder Yamikani Matupa Phiri, who is part of the team, said yesterday that it has been a month of summer intensive training and that they are set to return to Malawi on July 20, 2025.
“The training has empowered us to be able to train more teachers to reach out to even more children in the community,” she said.
Matupa Phiri said Lilongwe Dance Programme is the country’s only full-time ballet school, now proudly trained to teach the prestigious Vaganova Ballet Syllabus by Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet.
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“The training is aimed at enhancing our teaching skills and ensuring high standards in technique and syllabus delivery. This international training positions us to develop both aspiring ballet dancers and future ballet teachers in Malawi,” she said.
Matupa Phiri said they remained committed to classical ballet training in building character, offering global opportunities and creating lasting careers. Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet is led by Melinda Pendleton as its director. Her parents founded it 50 years ago.
One of her former students, Leslie Berman, co-founded the Lilongwe Dance Programme alongside Matupa Phiri.
