Luna uses our blog to tell stories from the families, children, and teachers we’ve worked with, reflect on our own learning, continue discussions started in our panels and forums, and more. Keep visiting back to discover what’s new!
Testimonials from our community celebrating Luna
Stories That Move Us
Pebble in the Pond: Teachers Creating Change
Rossana Alves
Rossana Alves is known for her warm smile and generous welcome, ideal qualities...
Meg Glaser Terán
Meg Glaser Terán has always loved her teachers. Both in childhood and in...
Tamara Irving
Tamara Irving has an enthusiasm for dance and learning that is contagious. Her...
Cindy Chan
Luna introduced me to the educational potential of dance and allowed me to see...
Jennifer Dennehy
Summer Institute ’14 alum Jennifer Dennehy knows her way around a hoop. A...
Bonnie Lewkowicz
Bonnie Lewkowicz, a long time Berkeley resident and one of the founders and...
M.K. Victorson
“Three years later I landed the job that people told me I would never...
Erica Rose Jeffrey
Erica Rose Jeffrey holds a powerful vision of dance. With degrees in both...
Tom Mayock
“Planting the seeds of a dance education is pivotal for the next generation’s...
Valerie Gutwirth
A veteran dance teacher with 20+ years of experience, Valerie has taught pre-k...
Sonja Travick
Sonja Travick is well-known in Oakland as a leading high school dance teacher....
Laura Richey
Physical Education teacher Laura Richey has found a way to bring creativity to...
Rosemary Hannon
Rosemary first encountered Luna through founder Patricia Reedy when they were...
Paula Mitchell
Grass Valley Elementary School teacher Paula Mitchell had a vision for school...
Rebecca Daly Mezzocchi
When Rebecca first came to Luna in 2009 she was teaching dance in a public...
Ruth Torres Walker
Ruth Torres Walker, Arts Integration Specialists with Los Angeles Unified...
Jakey Toor
Dance educators and artists are impacting the field of arts education in many...
Christina Ayala
Christina Ayala lives and teaches in Oakland, CA. She first learned about Luna...
Rebecca Prather
Fresh out of graduate school in 2012, Rebecca was working at the Larkspur Corte...
Emily Blossom
Luna’s partnership with New Highland Academy began eleven years ago when we...
Annika Nonhebel Presley
When Annika started her new role as Education Director for AXIS Dance Company...
What’s On Our Minds
Dance Makers at Grass Valley
by Heather Stockton
shared from the Grass Valley Elementary Makers Blog
Last fall I was...
Discovering a leader in myself
by Heather Stockton
In February I had the honor of speaking on two different panels as a dance...
A Conversation on Dance, Education, Leadership & Values
Luna’s Professional Learning Manager Jochelle Pereña (JP) and Director of Community & Culture...
End of Year Reflections, Summer 2020
Luna Teaching Artists reflect on teaching and learning at Luna during 2019-20.
Guest Post: Embodied Poetics – Writing & Dance
by Amanda Chiado, SI 2018
On October 8th I had the great pleasure of facilitating a Practitioner Exchange...
Guest Post: Creating Space for Child-centered Work
Facilitator Victoria Albaracin and participant Aiano Nakagawa reflect on the September 10, 2019...
A peek into dance-making by Deborah Karp
Spring is here and in the dance world that means a colorful blooming of performances, festivals and...
The impact of the Summer Institute – reflections by the SI 2018 cohort
The 2018-19 Summer Institute (SI) cohort includes 12 dance teaching artists and classroom...
Guest Post: Early Childhood Curriculum Exchange
by Kristin Burke
Some conversation take-aways & tips
As early childhood dance teachers, we find...
Guest Blog: Inquiry-based Documentation
by Lisbeth Woodington
Preparing for the Practitioner Exchange with my Summer Institute colleague Mershon...
Talking Race & Equity: A Few Tips
by Cherie Hill
Talking about race is not easy, especially in the workplace. The subject is controversial...
Guest Blog: Writing & Dance-Making
by Natalie Ashby
In today’s climate it is essential that young people have the means to speak their...
Guest Blog: Nature-based Dance Curriculum
by Eden Flynn
I recently co-facilitated/participated in a Luna Dance Practitioner Exchange with a small...
Guest Blog: Policing & Releasing the Body
by Emily Ban
On October 9th, a small but mighty group of dance educators gathered at Luna for the...
Guest Blog: Prompting Children’s Reflections
by Mandy Possel
Mandy shares what she learned from co-facilitating our September 2018 Practitioner...
Celebrating a Year of Inclusive Dance
by Deborah Karp
Seven classrooms gathered for a dance sharing at our partner school, Grass Valley...
Our Legacy as Dancers, Educators and Change-makers
Extract from Nancy Ng’s Keynote Presentation
California Dance Education Association (CDEA) Conference...
Dance Across California: A state-wide conference
On Saturday 1/27/18 I had the pleasure of attending and presenting at the state-wide conference of the CA...
Conference Reflections on Practice, Community, and Change
by Nancy Ng
17 activities marked the conclusion of Luna’s participation in back-to-back...
Addressing Equity: Disability & Inclusion
by Deborah Karp
In early August, I had the honor of presenting at the Kennedy Center-VSA Intersections...
Summer with DEL
by Patricia Reedy
Nancy and I were invited by Dance...
The Relationship Enhancing Power of the Art of Dance
This blog was written by dance teaching artist, Meg Glaser Terán about her experience with family dance....
THREES AND ME: REFLECTING ON DANCE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
By Patricia Reedy
March 2015
I was invited to give a keynote address at an Embodied Parenting conference...
Teaching Artists: Applying the Breadth of their Skills
By Nancy Ng
Segregating artistic, administrative and development departments are the typical...
Considering June in September: The Practice of Backward Design
As a child, I loved the transition from summer to fall as it indicated the beginning of school. Crisp air,...
Contemporary Dance Inspiration at Gibney Dance Center
Imagine seven different points within the body: the ankles, knees, hips, elbows, shoulders, ears and top...
Common Core & Dance: A Perfect Match
At the 2010 annual conference of the National Dance Education Organization, Jane Bonbright and colleagues...
Communitysourcing & the Art of Dance
It’s rehearsal. My collaborator and I are in the studio, surrounded by cover letters, calculators and...
Who is prepared for a windfall on behalf of children?
10-10-13
The other day there was an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about a business...
Middle School Magic & the Path We Dance
11/21/12
It was an unexpected moment in middle school dance teaching when one of my special education...
That’s not fair!
3 October 2013
Today marks the third day of the United States government being shut down for the most...
Social Media
26 September 2013
The other day our volunteer librarian, Sarah and I were talking about our...
Deja Vu
Consider dance educator, AG*. Like many dance educators in California, a state without a teaching...
Serious Play
Tuesday, 17 September 2013
“Children at play are not playing about. Their games should be seen as their...
A Dancer Writes
September 12, 2013
Today was the first day that I adhered to my new schedule, allocating Thursdays to...
Thinking About Space
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
As a dancer and choreographer, I have always enjoyed the use of space. At...
Shifting Accountability
Monday, September 9, 2013
What happens when an organization loses funding from a government agency with...
Engagement
Thursday, September 4, 2013
As teachers, we want to see engagement. Yesterday, day two of our annual...
A New Day
Wednesday, September 3, 2013
Back to School! That is what yesterday felt like in every way. The day...
Defining “family” at Luna’s Open House
As a new teacher to Luna, I was excited to participate in Luna’s first Open House in our “forever” home...
Time for Yoga in Schools
I recently read an article about parents threatening a lawsuit over yoga in schools because they were...
Expecting the unexpected
It was an unexpected moment in middle school dance teaching when one of my special education classes took...
Family Dance Effects: Community v. Institution
Southern California dance educator, Ruth T, my coachee, colleague and friend, is passionate about dance...
Dancing through the Lock Down
It started out as a typical monthly assembly at New Highland Academy (NHA), one of Luna’s partner schools....
Dance Leadership
Ruth Torres
Ruth Torres is the Arts Integration Specialist for Local District South in Los Angeles Unified School...
Rebecca Prather
Rebecca Prather is a Speech-Language Pathologist and Arts Integration Coach with the Larkspur Corte-Madera...
Jennifer Oliver
Jennifer Oliver holds a B.A. in dance from University of California, Irvine, and a M.A. in Expressive Arts...
Rosemary Hannon
Rosemary Hannon is a performer, choreographer and dance teacher. Since 1996, she has taught a variety of...
Greacian Goeke
Through dance, movement, music and T’ai Chi Ch’uan, Greacian Goeke has been inciting the abundant...
Yukie Fujimoto
Yukie Fujimoto was Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance at Mills College, Oakland from 2009 to 2014. She...
Rebecca Weisser Cervantes
Rebecca Weisser Cervantes has been teaching dance to kids and adults all over San Francisco since 1994....
Meg Glaser Teran
Meg Glaser Terán is a dance-teaching artist currently working with The Wooden Floor (TWF), All the Ars for...