Impact:  To date, all objectives have been met and many exceeded.  All participants have increased their confidence in leadership and instructional methods.  Despite radical budget shifts in public school education, and their ensuing re-classifications out of dance teaching and into general education, these dedicated dance professionals are keeping dance alive in their teaching settings, educating their non-dance peers about the value of dance and keeping their own skills sharp.  Jill Sethi, working at Carlos Santana Academy, has provided professional learning opportunities for her K-5 colleagues, implemented an afterschool action research project that demonstrated improved attendance and test scores for students who receive dance, and is currently exploring the place for family dance within the school community.  Meg Glaser Teran, southern California project coordinator, trained to teach MPACT-like classes, created a program and curriculum and piloted a successful session of classes at the Wooden Floor in Santa Ana.  More than 12 families of 30 individuals participated in the entire 6-weeks.  Parents report that they appreciated the opportunity to carve out time to play and dance with their children, that they learned how to observe them better, and that they began to see the value of improvisation to dance learning, play and life.  Ruth Torres also trained in MPACT and has shared her curriculum widely.  You can read more about Ruth’s class at http://www.artsforla.org/blogs/experiential-advocacy-creating-arts-advocates-through-dance/

Challenges: The primary challenge to creating professional learning communities of dance educators in southern California is the geographic landscape of the region.  Already, LAUSD and itinerant dance educators drive hundreds of miles each week just to do their job.  Their hunger for support and collegiality conflicts with their desperate need to spend time at home.  While all educational professionals have similar dilemma’s, most of us do not have to drive 100 miles to meet with colleagues.  The core cadre is exploring ways to use technology to help, and they are trying to alternate host places to make it possible for more to participate more readily.  Another challenge remains job insecurity for all California educators who are living and working in a time of huge budget cuts and a lack of political and social will to do what is right for our state’s children.

Challenges: The Marin City-Sausalito Parent Center is brand new and the director wears many hats within the school district as administrator and social worker.  Her commitment to building family support programs is strong and she is excited about making dance happen.  Nonetheless, district support is inconsistent and we are all learning to navigate new relationships.   Additionally, Marin is a big county with huge socio-economic disparities.  Director Tenisha Tate is excited that the dance program, specifically the professional development workshops, is bringing Marin-ites to her part of town.

Impact:  This program will allow Marin County to build capacity for dance teaching for ALL children.  Torri Campbell, a dancer and therapist, is learning to teach parent-child classes and will take over the program in 2012.  Other professionals have already expressed interest in the training, expanding the dance resources available in the region.

Update: Marin Community Foundation has agreed to provide funding again in 2012 so that we can held the southern Marin community solidify the program that began in 2011.  Torri Campbell is ready to take the lead in continuing this work and collaboration has already begun between the Parent Center and other local social service agencies.  We are so pleased to be continuing this project, particularly in light of the recent report, “A Portrait of Marin” that revealed stark income inequality between residents living in the wealthiest and those in the poorest parts of Marin county.  http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201201190900

ERICA ROSE JEFFREY

Dance teaching artist, San Francisco Bay Area

After leaving Montana to study at the Pittsburgh Ballet School, Erica danced with Ballet Internationale then attended Indiana University as a Wells Scholar and graduated with degrees in Ballet and Mediation & Conflict Resolution.  An avid explorer interested in connections between dance and culture, Erica studied dance and performed in India and Niger, West Africa and also participated in community development and conflict resolution efforts.  She traveled to China as part of the cultural exchanges surrounding the Olympics.  In 2012 Erica will continue to expand her conflict resolution dance education program, Moving Toward Peace, as she travels to Australia on a prestigious Rotary Peace Fellowship.

• Teaching Point of View: I believe in the power of dance as a primary form of communication and creativity.  I believe that ther is dance inside all of us.  One of my goals is to bring positive dance experiences to as many people as possible through classes, performances and audience education.  As a teacher, I am invested in my students’ own discoveries and the understanding of what their personal best can be.
• What makes her work unique: I feel my approach is unique partly because of the variety of populations that I work with as well as my ongoing curiosity to follow the full range of my interests.  This is coupled with a desire to enjoy dance in its own right as well as to see how it functions as a medium for social change.  My background in Mediation and Conflict Resolution provides a place of ongoing inquiry as I seek to explore the interrelation between dance and conflict resolution.
• Luna’s Professional Learning and Summer Institute: My work with Luna’s Summer Institute (SI) has helped to nourish and shape me as an educator.  It has provided a valuable network of resources and collegiality that is often elusive as a dance educator.  My experience with the Advanced SI is also now helping to support my development and leadership skills through the ongoing mentorship of Luna staff.

Favorite Quote

“When I dance, I can feel my body sing.”  Mia, 5 years old

Update:  Erica left the Bay Area at the end of 2011 to fulfill her promise to build a dance curriculum focused on conflict resolution.  With a prestigious Rotary Fellowship she will be pursuing this goal in Australia starting this month.  Read about her progress on her new blog