We are seeking two experienced dance teaching artists for part-time positions starting in August. If you honor the spirit of young children and love the sense of discovery through movement play, check out the job description here.
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Come dance with us outdoors in community and at the library while our studio is being renovated! Our family dance classes are a fun way to shake up your mornings. We’re offering classes all year as pop-ups in Berkeley parks and at the Berkeley Central Library. Discover more about these free classes here.
“Effective, trauma-informed education is a full ecosystem, not a list of strategies. While it is tempting to just look for the most effective strategies … strategies without adequate trust-building and context can easily fail.”
Jennifer Gonzalez
Trauma-informed teaching has become a hot topic these days. Cult of Pedagogy‘s recent podcast digs into it via an equity lens in its latest podcast. No surprise, connecting with students is a big part of it. Listen here and consider how these practices can exist in the dance classroom.
As a kinesthetic, non-verbal language, dance can offer another way for humans to communicate, express themselves, and connect with others, and a medium through which to learn a new verbal language. What have you observed about language learning and communication in your dance teaching and in your students? How do you support emerging multilingual children in the dance classroom – in school, studio and community contexts? What structural challenges have you faced in supporting students classified as English Learners, and how have you overcome them? Join bilingual dance educators Kitty Conlon Macías and Andreína Maldonado as they dig into these questions and more. Bring your questions too!
Thursday, June 1
4:30-6pm Pacific via Zoom
$15-40, or $28 for unlimited Exchanges for 12 months
free for PL Users – RSVP to jperena@lunadanceinstitute.
Dance educators, Practitioner Exchanges are a place for you! We hold these collaborative community roundtables each month around different inquiry topics. Bring your questions, your reflections, your experience to these conversations. All welcome.
Read about the impact of Practitioner Exchanges in Director of Programs Jochelle Pereña‘s research article, Through the Lens of Improvisation: Dance Educators Find Voice and Agency through Transformative Conversations.
Our friends at De Anza High School are seeking a dance educator for the 2023-24 year and beyond! Check out the job posting:
High School dance position, De Anza High School in Richmond, CA
Currently 0.67 FTE (4 classes), encompassing three levels of dance courses (Jazz Dance 1, Jazz Dance 2, Dance Production).
De Anza’s dance program strives to create well-rounded dancers, with equal emphasis on technique, traditional dance forms, and creative work / composition. The ideal candidate would have experience in one or more culturally-specific traditional dance forms; jazz dance including its history as an African-American social dance, and modern dance and/or ballet; and be comfortable with teaching the principles of choreography through improvisation.
Requirements / Qualifications:
Must currently possess a Single Subject Dance Credential (or PE Credential if issued prior to 2022). Must also be qualified to administer the California Physical Fitness Tests – if a candidate does not hold a PE credential, must pass the CSET for PE.
Specific Responsibilities:
– Teach three levels of dance courses, including Jazz Dance 1, Jazz Dance 2, and Dance Production.
– Plan classes to achieve a balanced study of concert dance technique, traditional and vernacular dance forms, and creative work / composition.
– Collaborate with colleagues in the Visual and Performing Arts department to plan and co-direct department-wide arts events including the Fall VAPA Showcase.
– Plan and direct Spring Dance Production concert.
– Organize casting and rehearsal schedule for student-choreographed dances for Spring Dance Production concert.
– Choreograph teacher-led dances for fall and spring Dance Production performances.
– Assist in locker room supervision and collaborate with PE department colleagues.
Reach out to Avilee Goodwin to express interest, agoodwin@anyways.com
Many of our colleagues in public education and community studios are seeking teaching artists for the 2023-24 school year. Check out postings from:
San Francisco Unified School District
Berkeley Unified School District
Black Teaching Artist Lab and Ingenuity recently released their free virtual guide to Afrocentric Social Emotional Learning through the Arts. It’s designed to support Black teaching artists, artist educators, arts administrators, and arts education organizations in exploring their own cultural identities through art, in order to connect with Black learners. Check it out here.
Want to bring more dance into your classroom, or your classroom to more dance? Teachers in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and San Francisco counties can apply for a Philanthropic Ventures Foundation Visiting Artist Grant of up to $500 to cover artist and material fees for TK-12 Title 1 school classrooms, or an Excursion Grant to cover up to $1,000 of expenses for field trips. Rolling deadline but apply ASAP.