Dance Integration – Youth Residency

Dance your way to an A+ on your next math test! Aligned with the TEKS standards, DBDT’s Neiman Marcus Group Lead Outreach Teacher designs a 6-class residency that teaches math, science, language arts, or history concepts through dance. Schools can choose either a custom residency curriculum tailored to address a specific academic challenge or a standard integration curriculum. Students integrating math explore time, geometry, and arithmetic through shapes, angles, symmetry, and equations. For history, students study 20th century history alongside famous choreographers of each time period. The language arts curriculum explores the intersections of fiction with modern, nonfiction with ballet, and poetry with hip hop dance. The science curriculum studies anatomy and kinesiology through dance. The program offers an alternative approach to traditional classroom learning that gets students thinking, moving, and having fun.

Bodies in Motion – Youth Residency

Successful bodies are always in motion. DBDT’s Bodies in Motion Program uses dance as a medium to encourage students to make smart choices towards a healthy/active lifestyle while developing essential life skills for a successful future. Focused on childhood obesity, the 6-class residency encourages youth and teens to be active through dance to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The curriculum stresses an effective warm-up for muscles, injury prevention, proper nutrition, and the importance of breathing and staying hydrated. Students also develop creativity, positive self-esteem, and problem-solving skills for a healthy mind, too.

AttenDANCE! – Lecture Demonstration

AttenDance is an informational, interactive lecture demonstration and discussion of the different dance disciplines with history and descriptions of the movements provided by the Artistic Director as the dancers perform. This on-campus, fun-filled lecture/demonstration concludes with selected dance numbers from DBDT’s repertoire. Student participation is included and a question/answer session with the dancers follows.

Student Matinee Performances

A 60-minute crash course in “what is dance?” this lecture-demonstration in the theatre introduces students to ballet, modern, and jazz dance. DBDT directors share the history and differences between each technique while the dancers demonstrate on stage. Students learn how dance progresses from simple steps to full choreography by watching excerpts from the company’s repertoire. Afterward, the dancers introduce themselves and their artistic background, and the students have an opportunity to ask questions. Now it’s time for the students to dance! DBDT directors lead the students through a dance combination of simple hand gestures and clapping from their seats. Just like the dancers, the students learn to master the phrase through attentiveness and practice.

Student Matinees are provided annually in conjunction with DBDT’s Cultural Awareness (February) at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre and DBDT: Encore!‘s Rising Excellence (April) at the Moody Performance Hall. Each school is provided with educational study guides for teachers and performance programs and souvenir bookmarks for students to enhance the performance experience.

DBDT Master Classes

Learn dance technique in the genres of classical ballet, modern, jazz, African dance or creative movement (for young students ages 4–6) from professional dancers with extensive experience. These classes are designed to teach specific technique to new dancers and enhance the technique of experienced dancers. Classes can be scheduled either during or after-school time. Master classes may also be used as a component of the Physical Education requirement for students of all ages.