Case Study: Design Dance at Richard Edwards Elementary School
“The partnership has continued to grow and behind the success is the culturally inclusive staffing. The teaching artists are sharing cultural knowledge in Hip-Hop and Latin Dance and it is part of the key for student engagement.”
- Marlin Estrada, Dance Teacher, Richard Edwards Elementary School
SETTING THE STAGE
Design Dance kicked off our residency partnership with Edwards Elementary with a planning meeting with our partner liaison, Marlin Estrada. During this meeting, we heard Marlin’s desire to focus on the students’ spring showcase and determined that the outcomes from our Latin and Hip Hop program would be best suited to a performance.
Our program manager, Gigi Hernandez, got work planning sessions around both teaching and creating, with a core focus on team building to help students understand the importance of peer support when performing on stage.
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
Through the Design Dance program, students at Richard Edwards Elementary School focus on working together as a team and being able to get out of their comfort zone. Their program leader, Gigi, brings in games to start the day and makes sure they are partnering up with different students each time. “I always have this focus on picking somebody different every time,” she said. “You cannot go to the same person. If you already chose them once, that's it.”
By diversifying the students chosen for each activity, Gigi highlights how each student can be a leader and the value of an inclusive and co-created classroom experience.
SEEING THE TRANSFORMATION
As time has gone on in the program, Gigi has built relationships with the students and seen their personalities flourish. “Some similar changes I see across our classes, is growth in personalities. I see a growth in participation and engagement, and I also see a growth in them wanting to lead the class,” she said. That growth that she sees outside of the classroom relates back to the games she starts her sessions with. As the students have become more comfortable throughout the program, she sees them bringing their own ideas for games each day.
Dance is a crucial social-emotional learning program as it offers students a means to release emotions, enhance brain activity, and calm transitions. Gigi has seen this first hand in her sessions and strongly believes that arts supports overall academic development and engagement. She said, “I’ve seen that in my classrooms. I feel like the arts, it helps students release energy, good or bad, when you [the teacher] let them express anything.”
BRING TBC TO YOUR SCHOOL
Dance education is a highly effective tool for instilling social-emotional wellness by teaching self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness, relationship building, and responsible decision making. Not only does it keep your students moving and creative, but it also:
Increases confidence
Inspires engagement
Enhances cross-cultural understanding
Improves academic performance
Fosters empathy
Builds communication skills
A QUICK GLANCE AT OUR PROGRAMMING
CULTURAL DANCE
AGES: PRE-K TO 12TH GRADE
Integrates social studies, history and cross-cultural exploration with dance and movement through African Cultural Dance, Latin Cultural Dance, Evolution of African American Dance and Afro-Latin Fusion Programs.
POETRY IN MOTION
AGES: 3RD TO 12TH GRADE
Empowering students to create dances based on their own poetic writing while exploring the modern and creative dance elements of Body, Action, Space, Time, and Energy as they identify their personal values.
TRADITIONAL DANCE PROGRAM
AGES: PRE-K TO 12TH GRADE
Our most popular programs spanning Hip Hop, Ballet, Jazz/Tap, Modern, Creative Movement, Musical Theatre + Open Style Dance promote self-awareness, empathy, creative confidence and a sense of belonging.
SCIENCE + DANCE
AGES: PRE-K TO 5TH GRADE
Bring dancing through the solar system to your school where students will gain a deeper understanding of scientific concepts, as they translate science learnings through full-body movement choices.
MOVING LITERATURE
AGES: PRE-K TO 5TH GRADE
Students will gain exposure to traditional dance styles using a piece of literature choice to explore
character, emotion and plot within literary texts that inspire movement exploration.
All programs are designed to reach key social-emotional learning objectives through our proprietary curriculum model.
Learn how you can bring The Brainchild Collective to your school. Schedule a call today!
