Pierre Dulaine

Pierre Dulaine is the founder of Dancing Classrooms, an arts and social development program which uses ballroom dancing as a vehicle to change the lives of more than 400,000 children and their families. He is a well-known dancer and dance instructor whose work is the subjectof the 2006 feature film Take the Lead and the 2005 documentary Mad Hot Ballroom. Dulaine’s current documentary project, Dancing in Jaffa, follows Dulaine as he returns to his birthplace, Jaffa, Palestine, to teach Jewish and Palestinian Israeli children to dance together. Dulaine has been on the faculty of the School of American Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and the Julliard School. He has won four World Championship titles and performed on Broadway. In 2011, Dulaine received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.