Dance thrives outside the nurturing environment of Jump-Start as well, as anyone who takes a gander at a Dance Month calendar can attest. Dance Month is celebrated each year in May, and local troupes pull out all the stops, premiering new works and bringing in a guest choreographer to push them beyond their limits. Virtually every type of dance imaginable - ballet, modern, ethnic, etc. Dance Month is the gateway for summer performances by DanzaHispana, the professional dance troupe overseen by the city's Park and Recreation Department. The holidays are the busiest time for local ballet troupes, including San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet and Texas Ballet Concerto.
Most troupes also present a few smaller shows during the rest of the year.
Classical music turns largely around the San Antonio Symphony and its musicians, who supplement the symphony's own season with several top-flight chamber groups and festivals. Music director Christopher Wilkins, entering his 10th and last season in the post, has grown artistically, in the past couple of seasons rounding out his superb craft with a newfound intensity and passion. The symphony's volunteer Mastersingers chorus, founded originally as an opera chorus, has become a first-class ensemble under director John Silantien. The symphony offers 16 pairs of classical concerts and 10 pops programs each season in the Majestic Theater, plus chamber-orchestra concerts in assorted venues around the city and region. The symphony has a special relationship with St. Philip's College, where many musicians teach children in a community music program and where the full orchestra holds an annual weeklong residency.