Dancer Brings Classical Art to the People : Patricia Corzano. Ballet Teacher, Arts Activists

“I want to remove the stereotype that Hispanics do not dance classical ballet or pursue the classical arts,” Patricia Corzano said. “And I want to show the Latino community that the classical arts serve a purpose in their own lives.”

Corzano, 27, studied classical ballet in her native Lima, Peru, for 14 years at an academy opened in the 1920s by Russian dancer Dimitri Rostoff. After graduating in 1987, she continued her training in Cuba and Madrid. Two years ago, the dancer and her husband joined her brothers and sisters in Orange County.

With the help of a group called Latinos Costa Mesa, Corzano and her husband started a pilot program that offered free ballet classes at a local school.

“I decided to start a program for the Latino community,” she said, “because I was seeing how the (Latino) people here are so distant from pursuing anything cultural, mostly because of financial reasons. As time passes, many of them are not developing their talents and are losing that talent.”

Corzano said she was surprised at how difficult it was to persuade parents to allow their children to study ballet.

“We went door to door, talking to parents about the program--even having to explain what ballet is,” she said.

“There are many misconceptions about the dance, many taboos among Hispanics living here. Some parents feared that if their daughters learned ballet, it would lead to a life working in cabarets, or that they could lose their virginity if they stretched their legs too far. And for their sons, they feared they could become homosexual. But this is all false.”

Corzano began classes in June for 120 students, ages 3 to 12, at Wilson Elementary School in Costa Mesa. When that school closed for a summer break in July, Corzano moved 60 of the girls to the Newport Ballet Academy in Costa Mesa. She teaches them there every Saturday--in Spanish.

“The students all speak English,” she said. “It’s the parents who generally do not speak a word of it. But I will always conduct the classes in Spanish to conserve the language. There is no representation of Hispanic classic ballet dancers in this country. My goal is to train these girls to dance professionally and to represent our race when they are doing it.”

She speaks fondly of the dedication of her students. “Most are unable to purchase the proper dance wear and shoes, but that does not lessen their interest in dancing,” Corzano said.

Corzano is working on plans to establish a headquarters for her growing program somewhere in Orange County, perhaps at the Santa Ana office of the group Hermandad Mexicana Nacional.

“I’d like to turn this into a real conservatory, even branching out later into music, painting--to all the arts,” Corzano said. “I’d like to see this grow throughout Orange County, and eventually nationwide to wherever there are Latinos living.

“I just want Hispanic children to be able to discover the classical arts,” Corzano said as she hugged her 19-month-old son, “and even more to discover their own talents within themselves.”