Dancing with Class Blog - Stories from the Classroom

DwC Teaching Artist Spotlight: Chris Van Houten

17 Nov 2017

Our November DwC Teaching Artist Spotlight is……Chris Van Houten! We asked him why he teaches social dance in public schools: “I am so proud to be a part of Dancing With Class! I strive to make dance class a bright spot in my students’ day, and I’ve seen our program spur [...]

Spreading Peace & Joy Through Dance

25 Oct 2017

Nerdy Media joined us at Poe School in the Pullman neighborhood to dance for peace as part of our “Dancemakers are Peacemakers” workshop series. In this video, you can see some highlights from the program and hear what some of the student participants had to say about it. [...]

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October DwC Teaching Artist Spotlight: Megan Rhyme

24 Oct 2017

“As a dance teacher, I want my students to have a joyful experience with dance. I believe the arts aren’t about a product, but a process, and knowing the process makes us healthier human beings who are better able to learn and work in any field. Learning dance is more than just [...]

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Putting the “Unity” in Classroom Community

19 Oct 2017

Before I worked with Dancing With Class, I used to study and teach classes on community-based performance. One thing that kept coming up was the connection between the personal empowerment that comes from mastering a performance skill– something that you create in your own body and others [...]

Our Second Year Together

12 Aug 2017

I’ve been lucky enough to be back with a YMCA program for the 2nd year after working with new students in 2014. Last year, the kids did a wonderful job. They were completely new to partner dancing. Some were young, so they were not quite secure with dancing with a partner of the [...]

Learning to Lead

4 May 2017

Teaching a recent core program, one of my students, K, would gradually drift away from the circle during the lesson. I couldn’t tell at first what was going on for him – was he disinterested? Or shy? But I continued to invite him back into the circle to come join us. We got to the […]

Can Dance Promote World Peace?

10 Apr 2017

One of the main facets of the DWC curriculum is teaching the students about respect. What it means to treat others with respect, and how to show respect to others by dancing with them. This idea sounds simple and self-evident, but teaching ballroom dance to 5th graders, where boys and girls [...]

Surprise – you’re performing in front of your entire school!

2 Mar 2017

Four weeks ago, I started a 12 week program at an elementary school working with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. They are taking time out of their Social Studies class to learn 2 dances – one with a partner, and one non-partner. The teacher coach is beyond wonderful – he’s [...]