The Creator: Evelin Banderas
"I don’t remember how or when I realized I wanted to be a dancer. But I remember every time I wanted to give up — and didn’t.”
Hi, I’m Evelin! Ballerina, founder of Ballates, and a woman who has fallen and risen more times than she can count.
For decades, dance was not only my art but my anchor. Then came the silence. A series of injuries, a heartbreak, and a pandemic that brought the world (and my career) to a halt.
But in that stillness, a seed was planted. And while completing my Master’s in Performing Arts in Portugal, working as a professional dancer, and navigating personal loss, a new method was born: Ballates, a healing fusion of ballet, pilates, breath and intention.
I launched Ballates in 2022 in Portuguese and French, while still living in Lisbon, and what started as a whisper of recovery has become a movement of reconnection.
In 2025, I bring Ballates to the world stage, with a body that carries stories, strength, and softness. This platform is a devotion. Not just to technique, but to tenderness. Not just to strength, but to surrender.
Academic Path & Training
M.A. in Performing Arts & Post-Graduate in Dance
Trained at Martha Graham School, Limón Institute (USA), and CNC Cuba
Certified in Classic Pilates, Vaganova Method, Barre au Sol by Boris Kniaseff, Somatic Experiencing
Studied Floor Barre by Zena Rommett, Countertechnique, Gaga Method
Why Ballates?
Ballates was born not from ambition, but necessity.
In the middle of a pandemic, while juggling research, stage work, and solitude, I realized: women needed more than fitness. They needed a soft return. A place to land, not to strive.
Ballates is for those who ache to move again. For those who want to come home to their bodies, their breath, and their quiet power.
This is not just my method. It is my offering.