Dance

The elementary dance program is a foundational program that consists of creative movement for children and connections to sports and folk dance for students in grade TK-5. The lessons are based on both the California State Dance Standards and the elementary Art Instructional Guide in dance. Students are given the opportunity to experience dance as an art form in an educational setting, creating, performing, responding and connecting their dance learning to their own experiences.

Dance is a universal form of communication and expression and through it we focus on gaining skill, knowledge and concepts in the physical, creative, cognitive, and social domains. Students study space, time and energy. The exciting, fun and challenging class lessons feature exploration, improvisation, and composition. Students work in whole groups, pairs, trios and, for the upper grades, in longer small group creative choreography projects.

All students have the opportunity to share and perform classwork for each other and to speak and write, using their dance vocabulary about their dance work. Students also grow in feeling, expression, imagination, and social skills. They learn by meeting challenges, taking risks, using self-discipline, working with others, and respecting others and self.

People have danced since the dawn of time and we are continuing that tradition!

Conga Kids

This past school year, we were thrilled to add Conga Kids to our arts forms, program description below. This is a fifth grade program.

We don’t teach dance. We teach students.

Conga Kids is an arts-in-education program that promotes social-emotional wellness through partner-dance. Through our highly structured approach to dance instruction, Conga Kids strives to teach critical interpersonal communication skills, build paths to conflict resolution, and establish a foundation of respect, teamwork, confidence, and leadership. Our principal goal is to shift the way students view themselves, their peers, and their communities.

Focusing on five core dances – Merengue, Foxtrot, Salsa, Tango, and Swing – the Conga Kids dance curriculum naturally integrates with California Content Standards for Physical Education and Visual and Performing Arts, while also supporting English Language Arts and History-Social Science standards. In addition to learning and completing physical movements, students also develop language and contextual understanding around the dances, learning the significance of movements, rhythms, and symbolism of dance in a cultural and historical context.

Our ten week, twenty-lesson program is offered twice yearly (fall and spring semesters), culminating in a grade-level showcase for families, teachers, and younger students. During each lesson, masterful resident teaching artists introduce new steps and vocabulary and reinforce known material through practice and repetition. Classes also include written homework assignments, a professional demonstration by guest artists, administrative support and quality control via a team of program liaisons, and options to participate in local and regional competitions against schools from across Los Angeles County.