Dance Education Funding

Grant deadline: Wednesday, May 2

AUGUSTA-April 12, 2017—Dance education changes lives, yet only 5 percent of all schools in Maine offer it. The Maine Arts Commission is offering a grant program for schools and teaching artists that seek to bridge this gap and bring the power of dance to more schools. Applicants may apply for awards up to $2,250. The deadline for this new program is Wednesday, May 2, 2018.

John Morris leading a session at the MALI Mega conference, spring 2017

This program was launched in 2016 and has successfully funded 4 dance education residency’s. Each will have a story included on this blog during this school year.

The first teaching artist to provide the residency with the assistance of these funds was veteran dance educator John Morris. “Creative movement is meant to allow students the ownership of their own uniqueness,” Morris said. “I give students the foundational movement to invent and explore their own movement, and I guide them through the process of making their own dances.”

John is also a member of the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative (MALI) Design Team and works with the teaching artist leaders.

Funding for the dance education grant was made possible this year by several dance studios and two high schools who came together for a benefit performance in November, 2017.

Karen Montanaro leading a session at Hampden Academy, December 2017

The Maine Arts Commission is pairing eligible PK-12 school districts with teaching artists from the Arts Commission roster. The roster includes 16 dancers.

“We are extremely appreciative of these contributions and the impact they will have on dance education in Maine,” said Julie Richard the Executive Director of the Maine Arts Commission. “There are so few dance education programs in our state and this is one important way we can make a difference to the students that we serve.”

If you’re a PK-12 educator or teaching artist looking to introduce students to the power of dance education, the Arts Commission encourages reviewing the grant guidelines and application criteria before applying for the May 2 deadline. The top qualifying schools selected will be eligible for the next funding cycle from September 1, 2018 through March 30, 2019.

For information visit the the grants and the teaching artist roster webpages at www.MaineArts.com

For questions regarding the grants or current teaching roster, contact Argy Nestor, Director of Arts Education, argy.nestor@maine.gov.

 

Dance Ed Grant Story

Hebron Academy

In December I traveled to Hebron for a visit with Teaching Artist, dancer Karen Montanaro and Director of Drama, Sarah Coleman, Hebron Academy. Hebron Academy received funding from the Dance Education grant from the Maine Arts Commission. I really appreciated the opportunity to see the dance residency in action. I was reminded of what dance education provides that is unique to the discipline. The list of skills students have a chance to develop is very long. Thanks to Sarah and Karen for providing their reflections on the residency.

SARAH’S REFLECTIONS

Hebron Academy was pleased to receive a grant from the Maine Arts Commission to support a residency with Karen Montanaro over two weeks in December. The goal of this residency was two-fold. First to provide an opportunity for students in the classes to experience the art form of dance/movement. Second, for the school to offer a dance/movement opportunity with the hope of continuing to develop interest in after-school opportunities, and eventually classes in dance.

 

Karen worked with three high school performing arts classes on movement, presence, and performance. Students were challenged to use their bodies in ways that were very different from their daily routine – to move, to improv and to explore. At first, this was an extremely challenging and uncomfortable experience for students, but as they became more familiar with Karen they were able to release some of their self-consciousness and participate with more freedom. In writing about their experience students shared reflections such as,

• ” I truly believe that she opened a door to an unknown side of myself. Through the unusual games and dance movements, she helped me gain confidence moving and using my body as a tool.”
• “Having Karen in our class was definitely a fun and relaxing experience…with her there [were] no expectations or even limits.”
• “From that week I explored [a] part of myself [that] I usually don’t.”

As a former teaching artist for many years, the experience with Karen was both typical and special. It was typical in that with anything new, different and disruptive to the traditional approaches to class participation (sitting) many students are resistant. It was special because with Karen, who brings her open, honest, authentic self to every class, students can’t help but release and play. Most importantly she challenges them to practice vulnerability – something we talk about often in our arts classes, but is hard to highlight daily. Even with the large amount of resistance she faced with our 9th graders, she continued to support and gently nudge them to let down their guard at a pace that was more comfortable to them.

A fellow 9th-grade teacher shared the other day that music was on in another class setting and a number of the students starting doing the movement sequence Karen had taught them. That feels like a true moment of impact, and success.

KAREN’S REFLECTIONS

I taught three very different classes and each class had its own positive aspects and signs of success. Two of the classes were electives. These two classes were positive experiences from start to finish. Each student came in ready to learn and try new things. Shyness and self-consciousness showed up in various ways (i.e., moving tentatively rather than boldly, speaking softly rather than speaking to be heard), but all of the students in these classes began to move with more authority and confidence. They willingly stepped beyond their comfort zones — where real learning takes place.

Success in these classes took the form of an enlarged movement vocabulary, more skill and precision in mime and dance techniques and an improved ability to access their own, truly original movement impulses. A lightness-of-mood “greased” these steep learning curves.  With each new skill, students progressed from tentative awkwardness to almost stage-worthy performance.

The more challenging class was the ninth grade arts class with thirty six students. About a third of the class was fully on-board from the beginning, but the remaining two thirds were almost paralyzed by self-consciousness. I told them that I was caught “between a rock and hard place” because the only way my class was going to work was if they agreed to be there. I couldn’t do anything without them. On the last day, all the students danced! They ran and leapt into position and we went through the choreography full tilt. By now, they knew the steps and I was thrilled to see even the most reluctant students moving with more energy and precision. It was clear to me that they had found themselves on the other side of a very threatening learning curve; a learning curve unique to the dance-experience that involves visibility, spontaneity, energy and expressive risk-taking. Watching this class move with willingness and assertiveness, I had a revelation that I shared with them. I told them that my highest hope for this class is that they will experience a type of movement that makes them feel so good inside their skin, they won’t need outside approval.  Paradoxically when you lose this sense of need, that’s when you gain real friends — friends that will help you rather than hold you back. 

I learned invaluable lessons from all the students. They reinforced the importance of what I do and why I do it. My goal is to create a safe environment where they can take huge emotional risks; an environment that allows them to step out of the digital world and into the full light of day — to experience their energy, visibility, intelligence and originality working together in profoundly expressive ways and to love presenting themselves to the world this way.

The Maine Arts Commission will provide the dance grant once again this year thanks to a generous donation from a performance put together by a collaborative group of dance educators. Two other locations are enjoying this funding, I will provide information each of them after my visits to the schools.

In Today’s News

Dance Education Funding

John Morris, teaching artist

Up to $3000.00 grants are being offered to schools/districts who are interested in providing dance education for students in grades PK-12. The Maine Arts Commission Teaching Artist roster located at https://mainearts.maine.gov/Pages/opportunities/Teaching-Artist-Roster has 14 dance educators included. Contact one of them if you are a school interested in applying for the funding. The grant application deadline is May 16.

Read more about the opportunity in the article at http://www.centralmaine.com/2017/04/18/new-dance-education-grant-program-offered/.

Dance Education Grant

Funding available

For the second year the dance world in Maine has provided funding for a dance education grant program that the Maine Arts Commission is administering. I am so impressed with the commitment to dance education and the grassroots efforts of individuals and collaborative groups. I encourage you to apply for these dance education funds. Application deadline: Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Please note: Funding is only available to school districts presently with no dance education. Extra points will be given to those applications from schools with less opportunities in arts education. This information was learned in the statewide arts education data collection conducted during the last school year.

The Maine Arts Commission is offering dance education grants to schools/districts interested in providing dance education by teaching artists who are part of the Maine Arts Commission Teaching Artist Roster located at http://mainearts.maine.gov/Pages/Education/Teaching-Artist-Roster.

The Thornton Academy dance education program collaborated with seven schools and studios with a culminating performance on November 18, 2016 and raised $3575. On March 4, 2017 Dancers Making a Difference, a non-profit organization held their fifth annual benefit performance with fourteen schools and studios performing to raise $6730. The total, $10,305.00, has been generously provided for the funding of this dance education grant program. This opportunity provides funding to support high-quality dance education for PreK-12 students and/or educators of this population in schools where dance education is not currently in place. This funding is meant to inspire and to exhibit the value of dance education.

Deadline: Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Total funding available to be divided: $10,305.00 (maximum award of $3,500)

The funding cycle for this program: September 1, 2017 through March 30, 2018

REVIEW CRITERIA

• Demonstration of high quality teaching and learning for all learners.
• Clear description of the idea and its impact.
• Description of the learning opportunity including objectives, outcomes (including performance information), and assessment methodology.
• Alignment with dance standards.
• Evidence of collaborative planning among the school educator(s) and the Teaching Artist(s) and evidence on how you will sustain this program.

NARRATIVE

1. Provide a brief overview of your dance education project.
2. Describe in detail your project. Include the following:
   1. Who will be served? Describe the school community.
   2. Who is involved? Teaching artist(s) from the Maine Arts Commission Teaching Artist roster, and professional teacher(s) from the school. Describe their collaborative/involvement in the planning and implementation?
   3. Time line. When will each component of this project take place? Who are the Teaching Artists and teachers involved. Who are the professional teacher(s) from the school, and teaching artist(s) from the Maine Arts Commission Teaching Artist roster and describe their collaborative/involvement in the planning and implementation of this project.
3. Clearly state the objectives and outcomes for the idea, plan for the culminating performance and for evaluating the success.
4. How does your proposal align with the State of Maine Learning Results for Visual and Performing Arts? If relevant, speak to the National Core Arts and/or the Common Core Standards.
5. What are your plans to sustain this work?

APPLICATION PACKAGE REQUIREMENTS

A completed application in the Grants Management System (GMS) for the Arts Learning Grant contains:

• Completed answers to all narrative prompts
• Project budget
• Two letters of support. One from a teacher from the school and one from teaching artist on the MAC roster who will provide the residency.

Applicants will be notified of the review outcome by June 19, 2017.

CONSIDERATION

Evidence of long-term impact.

The school/district awarded funds for dance education will be expected to document the teaching artist residency so others can learn about the work.

TO APPLY

To start a dance education grant application please go to https://mainearts-grants.maine.gov/account/login?ReturnUrl=%2fapplicant%2fgran and establish an account if you do not already have one. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me at argy.nestor@maine.gov.