Practitioner Exchanges

Join dance educators Nia Womack-Freeman and Deborah Karp as they explore these questions: As dance teachers, we’re often asked to be flexible, and we’re very good at accommodating to make sure dance can happen – especially now. But are we too accommodating? When do we bend so much that it’s actually a disservice to ourselves, our students and our field? How do we reflect on our values as educators and find our own lines of integrity? How do we know when those lines are crossed? When is it time to push back to administrators and make the recommendations to support our students and art form? Bring your own questions to this peer conversation, and help us generate new ideas. This Exchange happens on a Thursday, 4:30-6pm Pacific.

How do I plan for an uncertain year? And how to make it creative and sustainable for me? How do I reflect on my own learning and teaching goals, knowing that how I teach may change at any time? How can the work be less work, even with all the endless platform possibilities? Are there practices for self-care that I can incorporate now? Join dance teaching artist Sam Stone, experiential arts teacher Christine Atkins, classroom teacher Kristin Burke, and other dance ed colleagues as we ask these questions and collaborate to generate solutions. Bring your own questions and ideas to add to the mix! This topic was so popular in August, participants asked to continue the conversation in monthly meetups to check in about prioritizing self care. All welcome to join in.

Join dance teaching artist Alisa Rasera, educational therapist Cindy Miner Kapelke, and other dance ed peers to discuss ways to move beyond compliance and into inclusion, particularly while teaching online. They’ll be exploring questions like How can we truly facilitate an equitable experience for all children’s needs in the dance classroom, when the needs of each child are unique? How are we applying UDL practices to our online teaching? What new possibilities and opportunities is distance learning offering us to increase access for all learners? Bring your own questions to this rich and casual conversation with your teaching peers.

It’s become a monthly group conversation with dance teaching artist Sam Stone, experiential arts teacher Christine Atkins, classroom teacher Kristin Burke, and other dance ed colleagues! We’ve been talking about the radical act of self-care, how we as dance educators can model embodied care and connection to sustain despite Zoom fatigue, and how we’re cultivating creativity and joy for ourselves, both in and out of teaching. Bring your own questions and ideas to add to the mix! The conversation is evolving. All welcome to join in.

It’s become a monthly group conversation with dance teaching artist Sam Stone, experiential arts teacher Christine Atkins, classroom teacher Kristin Burke, and other dance ed colleagues! We’ve been talking about the radical act of self-care, how we as dance educators can model embodied care and connection to sustain despite Zoom fatigue, and how we’re cultivating creativity and joy for ourselves, both in and out of teaching. Bring your own questions and ideas to add to the mix! The conversation is evolving. All welcome to join in.

These days dance educators may find themselves teaching their students, plus siblings, parents, and even pets during online classes. How can we make the most of these new teaching platforms to engage families in dance learning? What do we do when only kids show up to our family dance class? What new ideas can we experiment with to allow for connection, trust, and relationship-strengthening? How can we include unexpected family members of all ages – on the fly? How can we balance structure and free dance while we teach online? Join family dance educators Julie Lebel & Rossana Alves as they ask these questions and more in this peer-to-peer conversation. Bring your questions too!

Teens are curious about making an impact in their world. How do you give them choice and voice, and support them in developing leadership skills while also holding a curriculum? How do you use dance and dance-making to address social issues, including xenophobia, homophobia, youth incarceration, and mental health? What does engagement look like now, when students may opt out of turning on their cameras? How can we continue to be responsive to the needs of our students while teaching from a distance, and how can we use the current limitations to design curriculum that is exciting for teens? Join high school dance educators Sonja Travick and Samad Raheem Guerra as they dive into these questions – and more! – in a roundtable conversation. Bring your own questions to add to the mix.

These days dance educators may find themselves teaching their students, plus siblings, parents, and even pets during online classes. How can we make the most of these new teaching platforms to engage families in dance learning? What do we do when only kids show up to our family dance class? What new ideas can we experiment with to allow for connection, trust, and relationship-strengthening? How can we include unexpected family members of all ages – on the fly? How can we balance structure and free dance while we teach online? Join family dance educators Julie Lebel, Isabelle Rousseau & Rossana Alves as they ask these questions and more in this peer-to-peer conversation. Bring your questions too! This conversation runs 4-5:30pm.

It’s become a monthly group conversation with dance teaching artist Sam Stone, experiential arts teacher Christine Atkins, classroom teacher Kristin Burke, and other dance ed colleagues! We’ve been talking about the radical act of self-care, how we as dance educators can model embodied care and connection to sustain despite Zoom fatigue, and how we’re cultivating creativity and joy for ourselves, both in and out of teaching. Bring your own questions and ideas to add to the mix! The conversation is evolving. All welcome to join in.

It’s become a monthly group conversation with dance teaching artist Sam Stone, experiential arts teacher Christine Atkins, classroom teacher Kristin Burke, and other dance ed colleagues! We’ve been talking about the radical act of self-care, how we as dance educators can model embodied care and connection to sustain despite Zoom fatigue, and how we’re cultivating creativity and joy for ourselves, both in and out of teaching. Bring your own questions and ideas to add to the mix! The conversation is evolving. All welcome to join in. This March Exchange is free for all in celebration of Luna’s birthday month.

These days dance educators may find themselves teaching their students, plus siblings, parents, and even pets during online classes. How can we make the most of these new teaching platforms to engage families in dance learning? What do we do when only kids show up to our family dance class? What new ideas can we experiment with to allow for connection, trust, and relationship-strengthening? How can we include unexpected family members of all ages – on the fly? How can we balance structure and free dance while we teach online? Join family dance educators Julie Lebel, Isabelle Rousseau & Rossana Alves as they ask these questions and more in this peer-to-peer conversation. Bring your questions too! This conversation runs 4-5:30pm Pacific.

As more and more teachers are shifting to hybrid learning, what are our concerns, fears, excitement, hopes? How can dance live in a physically-distanced classroom? How can we make sure students who are still in distance learning don’t get left out? What do we need now as teachers? What do our students need? What can only dance offer this moment of transition? Join dance educators Shona Mitchell and Erin Walter as they dive into these questions and share their experiences. Bring your own questions too!

This monthly conversation continues to evolve! Join dance educator Sam Stone, experiential arts teacher Christine Atkins & classroom teacher Kristin Burke as we celebrate the close of the school year and toast to the perseverance and commitment of teachers! We’ll talk about the journey of the year, what we’ll release, what we’ll keep close, and how we’ll look forward. All welcome.