A collaboration with NYC public school communities, Dance Makers in the Schools creates educational opportunities in which working dance artists teach children and share their own creative processes. Movement Research partners with each school to create a unique program that serves the school's specific needs. The teaching artists and classroom teachers together develop lesson plans for the appropriate age group, learning level and academic environment.
Movement Research teaching artists, who have strong backgrounds in education, encourage students to approach dance as artists and explorers, using movement as a means to question and create. Students experience a fun, physical class while developing their own creative identity and working collaboratively with their peers on projects that may culminate in school-wide performances and screenings of student work on video.
Dance Makers in the Schools began in 1993 largely as a result of the initiative of individual artists and teachers. Starting in 2008, under the leadership of Executive Director Barbara Bryan, Movement Research prioritized enhancing the program and building stronger connections within the East Village/Lower East Side neighborhood among school and artist communities. Since 2008-09, the program has more than doubled in size; it has grown from annually serving roughly 195 students in 3 partner schools to over 450 students in 7 schools, as of 2015. In keeping with its mission statement, Movement Research has empowered individual artists and teachers to guide the growth of the program with their creativity, thoughtful inquiry and knowledge of the community.
