By 2018 Pelham’s Andrea Ziegelman had established herself as one of the top family law practitioners in greater New York.  She was a go-to attorney for children in high profile cases of messy divorces and domestic abuse.

That kind of law practice took its toll.  Unlike commercial law, where some clients win money and some clients lose money, Ziegelman’s family law practice rarely produced winners, just fractured families trying to limit the emotional damage inflicted on the children involved.  By 2018, she felt drawn to a secondary career in dance, a passion of hers since the age of three growing up in a suburb of Detroit. She organized a few dance projects in New York, which deepened her resolve to embrace a second career in the performing arts.

By 2020, Ziegelman wound down her law practice and devoted herself completely to Accent Dance NYC, a non-profit that functions as both an educational and professional organization.  As she explained in an interview with IdeaMensch, it was an opportunity for her to return to her roots:

“I grew up in a suburb of Detroit, the child of a family of Russian-Jewish cellists, violinists, and pianists on one side and Polish-Jewish doctors, lawyers, and architects on the other. Education was of paramount importance to my family, as was exposure to the arts. As a child, I was able to delve into my academic studies while also pursuing my passion for ballet, which continued through my college years. At the same time that all of these opportunities were afforded me, I also recognized that the inner city out of which my parents took my brother and me in the late 1960’s was filled with people who were not nearly as lucky as me; they were trapped in a cycle of poverty, prejudice, and inadequate education, in a city divided by racial conflict and socio-economic strife.”

Through her career as a family lawyer, Ziegelman was able to help families and children who were caught in unfortunate or even tragic domestic struggles.  But even while that career thrived, she kept practicing her ballet.

As a travel soccer mom in Pelham, Ziegelman would lead her son’s team in ballet-inspired stretching exercises before Sunday games. It was a way for her to use her skills to help a pack of frenetic 12-year-old boys loosen up and clear their minds before taking the field.

Ziegelman said, “For everybody who is contemplating a change in their career, it’s never too late to start something new. I don’t regret the decision to leave that legal career behind. If there’s something out there that you really want to do you should try it.”

Ziegelman founded Accent Dance on the belief that all students should have access to arts education. Many of the dance programs take place in underserved communities in New York City. She offers classes in the South Bronx, Pelham, Mt. Vernon, and New Rochelle. Accent Dance performs a variety of dance styles including but not limited to: Afro-beat, hip hop, tango, ballet, tap, and step.

The Accent Dance Company performs at various schools sometimes tied to cultural themes such as Hispanic Heritage Month or Black History Month. Many of the students who attend these schools cannot afford professional dance classes. As a result, they lack critical arts education. Ziegelman ensures that every school performance is curated in the aspect of understanding cultures.

“I feel very strongly that every student should have access to arts education through the school system,” Ziegelman said,

Through these performances, Accent Dance was able to reach thousands of students over the past year.  Ziegelman believes the arts are more valuable than ever.

“We (Accent Dance) are a center for the arts, and we need to do whatever we can to support that,” Ziegelman said. “In New York, we are ambassadors for the arts, and we need to strengthen that. Kids need outlets for self-expression, and they can’t always get what they need during the school day. We need to be providing extracurricular activities to however many kids as possible.”

Alongside the educational aspect, Accent Dance supports new choreographers’ creative ideas. Ziegelman works to find pieces that align with the company’s goals to support social justice initiatives such as awareness around climate change, immigration, self-discovery, and diversity. Once a choreographer’s piece is chosen for the initiative, Accent Dance supports the execution of the idea.

On November 8, this year’s choreographer, Miaotian Sun, will perform her piece at Accent Dance’s annual fundraising gala. The gala supports Accent Dance’s performances at schools that lack funding. Sun is a Chinese choreographer whose piece looks at an ancient civilization during China’s Bronze Age. The piece combines traditional and contemporary elements of Chinese dance. The storyline of the piece follows an archeologist who discovers ancient artifacts which come alive during the performance.

When asked about the piece, Ziegelman said, “Cultural preservation is important because it continues through the ages. Our whole initiative is looking at another culture that we might not have access to.”

“Accent Dance NYC emanated out of a desire from my childhood to right some perceived wrong in society,” Ziegelman said in the IdeaMensch interview. “When I returned to the ballet studio in my fifties, after raising children and spending thirty years practicing law, I seized an opportunity to realize a dream to bring the power and beauty of dance to children in neighborhoods like the Detroit of my childhood.”