LaRoque Bey School of Dance Theatre, Inc

The LaRocque Bey School Of Dance Theatre Inc. was established by the late LaRocque Bey in the Harlem Community in 1960. It is the oldest African dance school in the United States. The school offered Dance classes in traditional African dance for as little as 25 cents per lesson in the Harlem-based Lincoln projects 52 years ago.  

 Today, under the direction of Brother Jerome Hunter, (LaRocque Bey’s nephew) 

the school continues to provide cultural enrichment & affordable dance, fitness, & drum classes to  economically disadvantaged communities, as well as  advantaged communities. In 1967, the school was incorporated as a nonprofit, Tax exempt organization. Since it’s inception, the school has taught well over 15,000 students and have trained many students that have appeared in and on Broadway productions, as well as television, videos, recordings and movies.

 The LaRocque Bey School of Dance has worked with various artist; with the likes of Duke Ellington, Otis Redding, Debbie Allen, George Clinton, Felisha Rashad, Savion Glover and more. The school offers a very unique opportunity for Children, Teens, Adults, and Seniors to experience, structured classes like Body Sculpting, Body Toning, African dance, Tap, Ballet, Caribbean, Aerobics, and Drumming to all ages.

Culture and art, as well as keeping the legacy and fiery energy of LaRocque Bey alive, will continue to be our focus, challenging young minds as an alternative to crime, drugs and hopelessness pitfalls often caused by deprivation of history, culture, love, mental and physical activities as well as low self esteem..

We  inspire all generations from youth to seniors, by spreading our cultural message to multiple ethnicities around the world.