The Embassy Performing Arts Center opens its doors to the Waltham community ›

Smaranda Maria Albeck renovated parts of the Embassy Cinema to create dance studios and more at 16 Pine Street

On a sunny Friday, Feb. 9, members of the Waltham community, city councilors, gymnasts and movie lovers alike came together to celebrate the newly renovated Embassy Performing Arts Center, located in the Embassy Cinema. Smaranda Maria Albeck, founder of the Boston nonprofit Boston Rhythmic, purchased the Embassy Cinema’s property in March 2023 with plans to expand her school.

In September of 2022, the Embassy Cinema closed its doors due to financial struggles. After reopening its doors in October 2023, the Embassy Cinema faces another transformation in an attempt to remain open and accessible to the public.

According to the Boston Rhythmic “Our Story” page, Albeck founded the school to “offer the best training conditions to her daughter Ada.” She graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology Business School and in 2001 parted ways from her consulting career with the ambition of starting a rhythmic gymnastics studio. Formally known as Rhythmic Dreams, Albeck had 10 students and one coach in 2002. The studio now serves more than 500 students each year, along with local movie goers due to the preservation of two of the screening rooms.

These renovations serve as an attempt to salvage the struggling Embassy Cinema and add a “multi-functional space,” according to a Feb. 8 email from Albeck.

Two of the six theaters in the Embassy Cinema will remain movie theaters, and the remaining four have been converted into dance studio spaces offering gymnastic and dance classes for children and adults, summer camps and event rentals. In her speech to those gathered, Albeck gave many thanks, as the idea for this space has been a long time coming. “Everything starts with a dream,” Albeck said.

Founded in 2002, Boston Rhythmic is the largest gymnastic school on the East Coast, according to their website. With locations in Hyde Park and Westborough, the Waltham location will not only expand their training of future Olympian gymnasts but will also greatly enhance the institutional presence that the Embassy Cinema has in downtown Waltham.

Waltham mayor Jeanette McCarthy, several city council members, 2023 mayoral candidate Jonathan Paz and president of the Waltham Chamber of Commerce Doug Waybright were all in attendance for the grand re-opening of the space. Mayor McCarthy, leaders of Waltham and members of Boston Rhythmic all spoke in praise of the new possibilities that the Embassy Performing Arts Center holds, citing Albeck as the primary proponent of this massive project.

A member of USA Gymnastics spoke to the transformative power of how “good sport grows great people, and good people are the foundation of community.” Several other speakers noted how these spaces will hopefully bring in revenue to the restaurants located on Moody Street just a few steps away.

Associate Master of Business Administration Director and Coach at Brandeis International Business School Alice Ain Rich also spoke about her avid love for cinema and the Embassy Cinema and thanked Albeck for renovating the space and breathing new life into it.

Located just off Moody Street, those present at the ribbon-cutting ceremony were invited to tour the new spaces. Within the dance studios, there is a “pink room,” “green room,” “blue room” and more, with these studios stretching from the ground floor to the basement. One room is set up for aerial silk performances, while another boasted mirrors and mats for rehearsals and various multipurpose uses.

Last November, the Brandeis Student Union forged a partnership with the Embassy Cinema, where Brandeis students can show their ID and buy a reduced-price movie ticket. Last Dec. to The Justice, Student Union President Noah Risley ’24 said, “I hope that this is the start of more Brandeis students getting involved in the local Waltham community.” Risley acknowledges how much Brandeis students benefit from Waltham and believes supporting this independent theater is a way to give back.

The renovation of the center lays the groundwork for Brandeis to strengthen current and potential partnerships, while fostering opportunities to unite long-time residents and neighboring college students in their shared excitement for the arts.