Theophilus Schmid Elementary School

Design Dance

Grant Amount: 9,500

Design Dance provides arts integrated programs focused on social emotional and academic learning. Design Dance’s Moving Literature residency aims to expose students to character, emotion and plot within literary texts that inspire movement exploration. Using a piece of literature that K-3rd grade English teachers’ choose, our teaching artist guides students through an experience of self-exploration and collaboration within the arts, connecting story components to movement choices. Participating Students will gain exposure to primary dance styles such as ballet, hip hop, jazz and tap, explore the dance elements of Body, Action, Space, Time and Energy, and find connections to literary elements such as theme, tone, action, and word choice within the chosen work of literature. 4th and 5th grade students will participate in our Poetry in Motion program. Students will work with a Spoken Word Teaching Artist to write original poetry, collaborate with a Dance Teaching Artist to master foundational concepts such as Body, Energy, Space, Time and Action and synthesize their learning through the process of choreographing an original dance work based on their poetry. Both programs will culminate in a performance in which students will showcase their learning to the entire Schmid community and include a professional performance by a Spoken Word Poet (Design Dance will utilize it’s past performer connections to bring a local, high caliber performer, such as Patricia Frazier, Chicago’s Youth Poet Laureate) in conjunction with the student performance. Design Dance Teaching Artists will also provide one 2-hour Professional Development workshop to Schmid instructors focusing on social emotional learning best practices leading to holistic student development.