Our school of about 270 students, grades PK-5, is growing, becoming increasingly diverse, and is very interested in the arts! We are "A Community of Learners, A Community of Leaders" who embrace the Leader in Me program and seek to develop the whole child. Dance allows our students to find a special way to shine, build confidence, and embrace who they are.
Our students love to move and express themselves.
They are most joyful when engaging in large traveling movements, creating with their classmates, participating with community organizations, and seeing live dance.
Beginning in PK, all students in our school receive dance 1-2 times a week. Our lower grade students develop as an artist through play, creative movement, and explorations while our upper-grade students study various forms of dance and dive deeper into creating. Our dance program also uses movement to explore, embody, and express learning in other content areas such as literacy, science, social studies, and math.
We have two larger performances to share with the community what we are learning and several smaller showings. Students engage with the diverse art programs in NYC through field trips, visiting guest artists, and seeing live performances.
My Project
During the 2016-2017 school year, we were fortunate to partner with BAM, Brooklyn Academy of Music, to bring an excellent African Drummer to our school for a one-day workshop then travel to BAM to see a live performance of DanceAfrica. Our students, staff, parents, and principal loved this experience – the teaching artist was very well prepared, experiences were tailored to each age and skill level, and the content of learning drum rhythms from Africa made our hearts and halls sing with joy. We are looking to expand this project during spring 2020 for our 3rd and 4th graders to experience a live drummer and African dance teacher for 13 sessions. The residency, part of BAM’s AfricanDanceBeat program will end in a culminating performance and seeing DanceAfrica at BAM – a truly magical experience that is apart of our local community.
This project will allow students to experience a dance form they are truly interested in, African Dance, and connect with the arts community in our neighborhood and across the globe.
With the guest artists, students will focus on learning the customs, dances, rhythms, and culture of an African country or the diaspora through research and dance making. The dance residency will culminate in a school wide performance and a day of reflection. As part of the experience students will also go see DanceAfrica at BAM. In addition, this directly relates to student’s social studies curriculum as they are learning about cultures from around the world.
One reason we can’t wait to work with BAM is to watch students not only develop as artists, but to watch their social-emotional skills grow too. As students are highly interested in African dance and drumming we anticipate them to be eager and willing to collaborate with their peers while creating. We look
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