Lilly Castro Marengo, R.D.E. graduated from New York University with a degree in Arts in 1983. She performed with the Kaleidoscope Dance Company. She then attended law school and spent fourteen years practicing law before she realized that she passionately wanted to dance! For the past 10 years, she has dedicated herself to working with kids with and without special needs. When she first opened a school, kids from in and around her hometown of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, began to come. Some were kids who had been rejected by other dance schools. She was willing to take on all comers and because of this special kids with physical disabilities began to come in: some with no arms, one leg, in wheelchairs, walkers, albino kids, some with a hearing impairment as well as kids with no physical or mental limitations. Most of these kids with physical disabilities were referred to the school by their own therapists. This also allowed her to develop her own style of work. | 
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She was invited to visit Cuba to take part in the psycho-ballet program developed by Georgina Farignas after being interviewed in “Despierta America,” a Miami-based Hispanic morning show (Univision) that showed her unique curriculum. She was invited to attend the Cuban International Psycho-ballet Conference where all participants were psychologists or sociologists, and was the only one in attendance with some other degree or profession. This allowed her the opportunity to explain the program she developed depending on meeting her students’ needs. All of her students attend classes together regardless of whether they have limitations or not. They really like the program. Her terminology is special as well; her classes are not for kids with special needs but for kids with “retos ( challenges).” |
