Lucia Marthas Institute for Performing Arts (LMIPA) is an educational institute for talented people. It focuses on the three pillars of the performing arts: dancing, acting and singing.
We offer three education paths: higher education (Hbo), secondary vocational education (Mbo), and preparational education. We offer our Hbo programmes under the banner of the Hanze University of Applied Sciences. In cooperation with Noorderpoort College, we provide the Dance leader/Dancer Mbo programme. We also have a large preparational education department, where children beginning from primary school group 3 take dance, acting and singing lessons. Preparational education is also the place where we scout for new talent.

LMIPA was founded by Lucia Marthas in 1983. It began as a small private ballet school with just one studio in a former apartment building on Van Woustraat in Amsterdam. From the very beginning, LMIPA has always chosen its own unique path. LMIPA is an institute taking centre stage in the professional field and society in general. Talent is what matters to us. In short, we are the place:
“Where talent excels”
Mission
The Lucia Marthas Institute for performing arts strives to be:
- accessible to everyone, regardless of their socio-cultural background
- affordable for all participants, including families that are less well off
- beneficial both for students and pupils who plan to continue studies or work within the performing arts field, and for those who do not.
Education philosophy
LMIPA has chosen to divide the curriculum into steps rather than years. All the steps together form a staircase. This approach allows for a fully integrated continuous learning path, beginning from the first step of the preparational education all the way to a Master’s programme as seen in the image below.
