Los Angeles Choreographers and Dancers

About:

Each year we serve 20,000-27,000 youth ages 5-18. This year we have also renewed our family classic The Patchwork Girl of Oz, touring to NC, also sponsored locally by the Children's Literature Department of the LA Central Library. We also produce the annual San Pedro Festival of the Arts, which presents 20-24 professional dance companies. Thousands of sponsors include LA County Museum of Art, Mark Taper Auditorium, and Kidspace; we tour locally for the LA and SB County School Districts, expanding to 22 states, MX and Taipei. We have "education" grants from DCA LA, Knabe's Arts Education Partnership, and an RFP from the LAUSD.

For principal's letter and evaluations see here.

For press packet see here.

Student Programming:

Offerings include performances, workshops for students and professional development for teachers. These can become part of a Dance Residency or After-School Program. We have one of the best arts education programs focusing on dance available, and we also bring Physical Education programs of equal caliber for Charter and private schools. We have a wide variety of packages that include 10 workshops for 2 classes leading to performance with us at the school, 1 professional development for teachers, 2 performances by our professional dancers, and planning meetings and materials. We have another that has 20 or 30 workshops for 2-3 classes leading to performance. We have 10 programs that have been a staple on the Arts For All Website since it began.

Professional Development:

All our PD's: Creating a Dance (foundation), Weaving Dance into the Curriculum, Using Specific Cultural Dances, Writing a Dance-Choreographing An Essay, and Dance from "The Patchwork Girl of Oz" including our 1-time workshops, and residency Teacher/Teaching Artist collaborations where teachers follow up Reichlin modeling with their classes that leads to them actually teaching other teachers the lessons, prepare the participants to deliver sequential curriculum that meets the VAPA standards. Actual evaluations about the HANDOUTS: "The outlines were helpful in reading the handout- very interactive and it made all the staff want to participate." "It was a great reference & ideas, even assessment." "It gives a good quick overview of how to create a dance lesson." "Explains goals and objectives. It was engaging." "Clear purpose/objectives, connection to students" "Make it seem easier to include dance in the classroom. Fun and can be easily applied".

"Creating a Dance" is our basic PD. Some specifics: the structure is an interactive movement class. We all moved before we could speak, and the emphasis in this PD is a warm-up session with Louise Reichlin. The participants become aware of the Elements of Dance, Space, Time, and Energy, and our body systems. We become aware of how we perceive movement, how we learn it, and how we can repeat it. Everyone perceives with a different part of their body system, and recognizing that helps each person understand each student has a unique way of learning, and multiple ways of presentation are necessary to teach. After the warm-up we learn a dance, and then break into four groups that design 8 counts each using the elements of dance and the Laban basics. Each is facilitated by our dancers. We put the entire dance together and perform it, followed by a discussion of the study guide notes, how to use this approach in the classroom, and finally a written evaluation.

For more specifics on our PD's see Education on our website.