Eva Marie Pacheco: Arts Activist and Philanthropist

I have studied ballet with Eva Marie Pacheco since age 5. She has taught me almost everything I know about ballet and inspired me to pursue dance beyond high school. But the most valuable things she has shared with me are her love of the arts and her passion to make ballet accessible to everyone.

Eva Marie is the owner and artistic director of Providence Ballet School. She was a founding member of Festival Ballet in Providence, where she danced for over 20 years, and has also performed and choreographed with Island Moving Company, Everett Dance Theatre, CadenceDANCE, and is on the dance faculty of Rhode Island College and Brown University.

This holiday season is the sixth year her original ballet, “ ’Twas the Night Before Christmas” will be performed. Thousands of Rhode Island public school children will be able to attend a performance for free because of Eva Marie’s generosity, while other children will pay only $5 to see the live production in Roberts Hall at Rhode Island College on December 17th and 18th.

Raised in Providence with a love for the arts and ballet, Eva Marie’s family wasn’t always able to afford ballet lessons or trips to the theatre. For these reasons, she is passionate about making the ballet accessible and affordable. Her studios in Providence and East Greenwich never turn away a dancer, even if he or she can’t pay, and Eva Marie is always working towards her goal of having every child in our state experience live ballet.

This will be my 6th holiday season performing “ ’Twas” for school children. Their unbridled enthusiasm and enjoyment are contagious and energize us as we nurse sore feet between shows. Ballet, like most art forms, is meant to be shared and experienced. It is an honor and a privilege to dance before such a uniquely deserving audience and with this group of amazing professionals and student dancers.

It is a greater honor still to study under Eva Marie. She is demanding when it comes to classical technique, but she also cultivates artistic expression in her dancers. She wants there to be genuine joy for the audience and the performer. Her dedication to exposing Rhode Island school children to the world of ballet makes her the perfect model of an arts activist and philanthropist. Her example makes me realize why I dance and the power of the arts.

For those who love the arts, there is no better gift than a trip to the theatre. For those young school children who have never seen the curtain rise on a live performance, Providence Ballet’s visions of Sugar Plums will delight and enrich. Eva Marie sees it as an investment in the next generation of artists and ballet audiences, and most importantly, as a way of giving back to the community where she first developed her love of the art form.

If you would like to see a performance, contact the Rhode Island College box office at https://www.ric.edu/pfa/orderinfo.php. If you would like to make a donation for a child to see the ballet, contact Providence Ballet at http://www.providenceballet.org. A $100 donation will send 20 children to the ballet.