Dear dance educator,

We see you.

We see you celebrating children.

We see you making space for their voices.

We see you fearlessly advocating for them to discover their power through their bodies.

We see you shaking things up and moving!

Our dreams for the freedom of all children are possible because of you!

We celebrate you!

Love,

Luna

Practitioner Exchange: Informances & Performances

What is the purpose of school/studio dance performances? Why do we have them and who are they for? What expectations do students, parents, administrators have about performances? Can informances and alternate ways of sharing dances shift perceptions and expectations? Performances are back in full force, post-pandemic. Join teaching artist Michalea Summers (and possible other guest co-hosts) as we consider the purpose of performances, and whether it's time to do things a little differently. Bring your questions too!

Friday, March 1

4:30-6pm Pacific via Zoom

$15-40, or $28 for unlimited Exchanges for 12 months

free for PL Users - RSVP to jperena@lunadancecreativity.org

Details here

Dance educators, Practitioner Exchanges are a place for you! We hold these collaborative community roundtables each month around different inquiry topics. Bring your questions, your reflections, your experience to these conversations. All welcome.

Summer Institute 2024

Applications available today!

"I feel so empowered to advocate for dance learning for all. Not as a supplement to other subjects, but as a subject in and of itself."

~ Summer Institute alum



Applications are now available for Luna's Summer Institute, a yearlong professional development experience that includes intensive workshops, individualized coaching, and collegial support, all focused on the art of teaching dance. A cohort of twelve teaching artists and classroom practitioners are selected to participate each year in this fully-funded transformative experience. The application window is OPEN now until April 15. Discover more and request an application here.

Bay Area Community Art Education

Asset Survey

With new and existing arts funding intact thanks to Prop 28, our local districts and school sites are updating their arts education plans. Our friends at Arts Education Alliance of the Bay Area need your help to flesh out arts partnership details to support sustained and growing arts partnership programming. Arts partners are invited to complete the Bay Area Community Art Education Asset Survey with information about your offerings.

Prop 28 Resources:

More Dance in More Schools

Prop 28 has the potential to fund more dance in schools, but students need dance teachers AND space to dance. It can be challenging to create space for dance, especially in schools where there is no dedicated dance space. The California Dance Education Association designed More Dance in More Schools as a tip sheet to help get the conversation about space started and to ensure that dance is available and accessible without barriers to all CA students.

Are you a dance teaching artist thinking about getting your credential? CalState East Bay and CSU Northridge offer the first credentialing programs, but will soon be joined by six other universities. Stay up to date with dance credentialing programs here.

Prop 28 webinar from

the California Department of Education

Details about Prop 28 - how the funding works, the timing, the benefits, the purpose, and more - are being released over time as our state administrators build the infrastructure for this funding. The California Department of Education's new webinar series is part of the effort to keep the public informed, and their first webinar was released February 1. Check out the webinar recording here.

What's moving us:

Zaretta Hammond on Mind the Gap podcast

"We have to help students recover the joy of productive struggle."

~ Zaretta Hammond

Zaretta Hammond always gives us something to think about, and reaffirms our values around teaching. In this Mind the Gap podcast episode she dives into rigor and "active demandingness" that helps teachers move beyond compliance and monitoring, and helps students push through to find joy in learning. Listen here and see if you find parallels to the creative process.

Funding resource from the City of Oakland:

Networks of Care: Teaching Artist Support

Are you a teaching artist working for an Oakland-based non-profit? Let your administrators know about this grant to support you and your professional development. The Networks of Care: Teaching Artist Support grant will provide organizations funding for Teaching Artists conducting arts instruction for Oakland youth. The program will award grants of $10,000 to Oakland-based non-profit organizations to supplement current Teaching Artist salaries, and/or provide them with professional development opportunities to advance how we care for ourselves, and one another. Submission deadline is February 22. More details here.

Did you know that Luna has a professional development funding resource page? Check it out here.