In our 28 years of working with children & families, we’ve witnessed the power of dance to strengthen relationships and enhance empathy.
Video courtesy of Youth Uprising
This 4-day intensive shares Luna’s relationship-based approach to teaching Family Dance, developed through our Moving Parents & Children Together (MPACT) and Studio Lab programs. We’ll present movement activities and lessons that support adults and children in engaging with each other in long-lasting ways, backed by research, theory, and evidence from practice.
“The way Luna teaches others to think about teaching dance is amazing! The material has a strong evidence-base, and the classes are experiential, illuminating, and fun! Luna models best practice in teaching and supports everyone, regardless of background, to build family dance curriculum that’s meaningful for their own community!”
– Jenaver Goodman
Early Intervention Teacher and
Family Dance Institute Alum
Family Dance Institute content includes:
- Attachment, play & development theories
- Neuroscience & early movement patterns
- Creating dance curriculum to build trust & connection
- Learning to engage multi-generations in dance play
- Teaching in different settings
- And more!
Incorporate Family Dance in Your Work
Dance teaching artists, classroom & early childhood educators, therapists, family service advocates, early interventionists, social workers, and parents have all benefited from the Family Dance Institute. No dance experience required. Stay tuned for 2021-22 dates.
“Luna’s Family Dance Institute brought creativity, joy, and community into my teaching as a dance teaching artist working with multi-age children and their families.”
– Nia Womack-Freeman
Dance Teaching Artist and
Family Dance Institute Alum
Want to continue your learning at home?
Designed to accompany our Workshops and Institutes, Luna’s book Body, Mind & Spirit in ACTION, and the video series of PERFECT IMPERFECT LESSONS aim to empower educators, practitioners, community workers, and more.
Our Research in Family Dance
Luna is internationally recognized as an expert in early childhood and family dance, and has presented our relationship-based approach at arts and education conferences throughout the California, the States and Canada. We have published field research about family dance in the International Journal of Education & the Arts (Warburton, Reedy, Ng 2014) and Dance Education in Practice (Hill, Ng 2017), and were featured in Dance Studio Life (Odell, 2013) for our work with Moving Parents and Children Together (MPACT). Our teaching faculty have written multiple articles on parent-child dance for InDance, including The First Steps (Reedy, 2012) and Ten Tips on How to Engage with Parents in Parent-Child Classes (Perena, 2016).