SOFIA ZOBEL-ELIZALDE

FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, STEPS DANCE STUDIO AND STEPS SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION; VICE PRESIDENT, MUSEO PAMBATA

Sofia Zobel-Elizalde has been dancing, teaching and raising funds for dancers from all walks of life through her Steps Dance Studio over the past two decades. Her Steps Scholarship Foundation, which was established in 2008, provides for students’ primary education in partnership with the Ayala Foundation’s Center for Excellence in Public Elementary Education (Centex). The foundation also opened a dance school in Centex Batangas, offering students free lessons in music and dance.

Among the foundation’s former students are Elwince Magbitang and Raye Vince Pelegrin, who have been training at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School since they were noticed by FilipinoAmerican ballet dancer Stella Abrera and her husband, Sascha Radetsy, artistic director of the American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company, while they were in Manila for a homecoming show. Magbitang is a member of the American Ballet Theatre, while Pelegrin belongs to the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company.

Also serving as the vice president of the Museo Pambata, Zobel-Elizalde was instrumental in the renovation of the interactive children’s museum. She continues to fundraise to bring over a thousand children to the museum and create Balay Yatu. Organisations can hold creative workshops, events and arts showcases in this flexible space for children. She was also consulted for the construction of the Samsung Theater, advising on the stage’s physical specifications to suit dancers’ requirements.

In 2023, Zobel-Elizalde worked towards Steps’s 30th anniversary, which the studio will celebrate in 2024.