"In the East Village, there is only one dance teacher who instructs neighborhood children ages 4 to 18 in modern and ballet, choreographs the
dances they perform, creates the costumes they wear, and makes sure students who can’t pay for lessons receive tuition assistance.  Meet Martha
Tornay, of East Village Dance Project (EVDP), the most inspiring and community-oriented dance program below 14th St.
Founded in 1997, with a handful of students, EVDP now serves more than 60 children per year, 90% of whom live east of First Avenue.  Many of
these students take more than two classes a week, and some, dancing with Martha for most of their lives, are showing talent at a pre-professional
level.  Two young students have gone on to professional New York dance schools.
“In both the modern and ballet classes, students get a clear understanding of a clean technique,” says Martha.  “Students explore musicality,
become familiar with a professional theater, develop a love of performing, and have an understanding of choreography (both mine, and developing
their own).”  No other dance organization in the area comes close to this across the board approach to training young dancers.
Like the neighborhood, Martha’s dance education is inclusive: no student is turned away due to lack of funds.  About 30% of the students currently
in EVDP can’t afford the cost of lessons, which are well-below uptown prices and partially underwritten with grants from the Charlotte Ruby Cantor
Fund.  But as EVDP has grown, so too, has it’s need for financial support.  Martha wants to offer more tuition assistance, as well as be able to
provide dance education essentials like leotards, tights and shoes, and continue to bring in guest professionals to tutor dancers in improvisation, and
build company repertory." - EVDP advisory board
East Village Dance Project
    Martha Tornay Artistic Director -
    is a graduate of Interlochen  
    Arts Academy and a recipient of
    the Fine Arts Award in dance
    technique and choreography.
    Martha has over 3 decades of
    intensive classical ballet studies
    with dance masters such as
    Mme. Gabriela Darvash,
    Gretchen Ward Warren and
    Robert Brassel.
    After performing for over 18
    years as a soloist with regional
    and international ballet and
    modern companies including
    Newport News Ballet (Virginia),
    Israel Ballet (Tel Aviv), and The
    Robert Kovich Company (NYC),
    she founded East Village Dance
    Project.
    In addition to directing EVDP,
    she teaches dance at New York
    University’s Experimental
    Theater Wing, Bates Dance
    Festival, and Louisville Ballet
    School.