CHICAGO'S DANCE STUDIO SINCE 1954
More Than 70 Years of Dance.
One Neighborhood. A Legacy Built to Last.
LBP School of Dance is one of Chicago's longest-running community dance studios. We are a nonprofit in Ravenswood Manor offering ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, lyrical, contemporary, acro and more for dancers ages 3 to 93 since 1954.
1954
FOUNDED IN CHICAGO
70+
YEARS OF LEGACY
3-93
ALL AGES WECOME
8+
DANCE DISCIPLINES
501C3
NONPROFIT ORG
HOW IT BEGAN
A professional ballerina. A group of friends. A community they loved.
In the early 1950s, Kitty LaPointe — a classically trained professional ballerina and Ravenswood Manor mother — wanted to share her love of dance with her daughters and the neighborhood children around her. She opened her home, cleared the floor, and started teaching. From the start it felt less like a school and more like a club. The girls paid dues, kept attendance, and came up with the name themselves: Le Ballet Petit.
The road wasn't always smooth. In August 1987, a flood struck the studio and destroyed priceless costumes, shoes, props, and much of the equipment needed for LBP's full-scale productions. For four years, the guild produced no ballets. But Kitty LaPointe was not finished.
Together with Ida Velez — her trusted teacher — and a community that refused to let LBP disappear, Kitty launched the "Adopt a Nutcracker" fundraising campaign. By offering group ticket prices to Girl Scout troops and rallying everyone around her, she raised enough for new costumes, scenery, and props. In 1991, LBP presented The Nutcracker to nearly 2,000 cheering viewers. A spring production of Coppelia followed, and LBP was back on its feet. Assured that the wonderful organization she had founded would continue, Kitty LaPointe resigned.
PASSING THE TORCH
The Legacy Continues
Ida Velez had come to LBP the same way thousands of Chicagoans have — looking for a place to dance. She had taken ballet as a young girl after moving to Chicago from Puerto Rico, but stopped when her studio closed. She returned to dance later in life, beginning adult classes at LBP at age 32. She never left. She became Kitty's assistant, learned the organization from the inside out, and stood beside her through the hardest chapter the studio had ever faced. When Kitty stepped down, there was only one person for the role. Ida Velez assumed the position of Executive Director.
Under Ida's leadership, LBP didn't just hold its ground — it flourished. Productions of Cinderella and Swan Lake followed in the years after the comeback, warmly received by the Girl Scout troops that had helped save the studio and continued to attend year after year. The Nutcracker, the very production that had brought LBP back to life, became an annual tradition performed every December for more than 30 years since. Ida Velez continues to serve LBP today as Director Emeritus, a living part of the legacy she helped rescue and build.
THROUGH THE DECADES
1964
A home of its own
Incorporated as Le Ballet Petit Parents Guild and permanently settled into 4630 N Francisco — the corner address that remains LBP's home to this day.
1987
Flooded but not finished
An August flood destroyed decades of handmade costumes, props, and sets. Four years of silence followed. LBP refused to disappear.
1991
The comeback
The "Adopt a Nutcracker" campaign rallied the community. New costumes. New scenery. Nearly 2,000 cheering viewers welcomed LBP back to the stage. Ida Velez became Executive Director.
2008
LPBDC is born
The Living By Performing Dance Company was founded, giving LBP's dancers a competitive stage. Now in its 18th season, LBPDC performs regionally and nationally.
Today
A legacy still growing
More than 70 years in, LBP continues to dance at 4630 N Francisco. Same corner. Same belief. The legacy Kitty LaPointe built in a basement is still thriving each day.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
Everyone can dance.
Everyone can perform.
LBP was built on a radical idea: dance is not a gift reserved for the few. It belongs to everyone — the three-year-old in her first plié, the adult returning to the studio after decades away, the competitive athlete pushing toward the national stage. That belief is part of LBP's legacy, and it shapes every class, every production, every season.
As students grow, so do their roles. A child who enters as a mouse in The Nutcracker may return years later as a the Sugar Plum fairy. That is the LBP way.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
Classes, performances, and competitive training - all under one roof.
LBP was built on a radical idea: dance is not a gift reserved for the few. It belongs to everyone — the three-year-old in her first plié, the adult returning to the studio after decades away, the competitive athlete pushing toward the national stage. That belief is part of LBP's legacy, and it shapes every class, every production, every season.
Classes
Ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, hip hop, lyrical, contemporary, and acro. Everyone is welcome and everyone can dance.
Performances
Three full productions every year — The Nutcracker, a Spring Ballet, and the June Show. Every student has multiple opportunities to perform each year. Every auditioner earns a role.
Living By Performing Dance Company
The Living By Performing Dance Company competes regionally and nationally, carrying the LBP legacy into studios and stages across the country.
RAVENSWOOD MANOR, CHICAGO
A nonprofit studio rooted in the community it serves
LBP School of Dance is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, which means every dollar flows back into programming, instruction, and performance opportunities for our dancers. We are not a franchise. We are not a chain. We are a neighborhood institution — the same corner, the same community, for more than 70 years.
We keep tuition affordable by design. We keep our doors open to every dancer regardless of experience, background, or ability. This neighborhood gave LBP its start. Seventy years later, we're still here — proud to be part of this community and its lasting legacy.