By Dr. Kristen Paglia, Executive Director of Education & Programs
Like most of us, I come across dozens of social media memes, funny cat videos, and other human-interest vignettes in some electronic form daily, and I barely glance at the them (except for the funny cat videos… those get my full, undivided attention). But this particular viral video hit home.
As a dance educator, someone who cares about the wellbeing of children, an education researcher, and a mother of a little boy who needs to move more than anything, I have a deep and personal understanding of the benefits of dance for kids. When my son was in the first grade and trying to manage a school bully, a newly-diagnosed learning disability, and a more-than-average amount of social anxiety, he would come home elated on the days that the itinerate dance specialist visited his school (sadly, just ten sessions over the course of the year). In his six-year-old words, he described the program as “fun,” where “everyone works together,” and, with much enthusiasm, one where, “I never get in trouble.” In my doctoral studies on the benefits of dance for children with autism, fun, working together, and not in trouble came up frequently as themes, only I re-framed them for my dissertation as student engagement, collaboration, and opportunities to succeed. These are the same themes that come up again and again in the growing body of research on dropout and bullying prevention.
Since joining the P.S. ARTS team five years ago, building a more robust dance program has been a personal and organizational goal. In California public schools, all of the arts are compromised, and dance programs are the scarcest, despite the established physical, social, and expressive benefits for children. There is no state-recognized dance teaching credential in California, and many generalist teachers are not comfortable integrating dance in their classrooms. Dance, which has been an integral part of the celebrations, story-telling tradition, and rituals of almost every culture throughout time, is becoming a lost art in American public schools. I am very happy to share our progress toward providing dance to children in underserved California public schools by highlighting the P.S. ARTS dance program at Baldwin Hills Elementary School.
Baldwin Hills Elementary School is located in South Los Angeles and serves over 430 students. The population at BHES is approximately 80% African American, and more than 70% of Baldwin Hills students live in poverty. In spite of having virtually no budget for it, Baldwin Hills students have participated in dance due to the volunteer efforts of veteran classroom teacher Malinda Williams.
Ms. Williams, who has worked as an elementary educator in LAUSD for over 16 years, volunteered her time as the BHES dance teacher, working with students of all grade levels to choreograph performances for the school’s three yearly student shows. Recognizing that Ms. Williams’ ad hoc dance program was a great compliment to the in-school music program P.S. ARTS has provided BHES for thirteen years, we pursued funding to support the formal implementation and integration of after-school dance and in-school music at Baldwin Hills.
Thanks to the generous support of the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, P.S. ARTS has been able to officially place Ms. Williams as the P.S. ARTS after-school dance Teaching Artist at Baldwin Hills and provide sound equipment and other program essentials. In the fall, Ms. Williams and Baldwin Hills dance students were invited to a special event at Sweet Hollywood hosted by the National Association for Music Education, in partnership with DreamWorks Animation and Twentieth Century Fox, to celebrate the release of Shrek The Musical on DVD where they were also presented with an additional $10,000 check for the Baldwin Hills P.S. ARTS programs.
Now Baldwin Hills students have access to a weekly sequential dance program featuring modern dance, African dance, American swing dance, and other artistic and cultural dance forms. Students have the opportunity to participate in three performances that are free and open to the public: a holiday show in December 2013, a Black History Month show in February 2014, and a Multicultural Day show in May or early June of 2014.
The positive impact of the dance program at Baldwin Hills Elementary School was very evident to me from the audience of the 2013 holiday concert. The students performed with energy and passion, fully committing themselves to the movement and meaning behind the choreography. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house and the auditorium was bursting with community pride. In addition to the sheer joy, talent, and artistry displayed by the students, I was personally quite struck by the large numbers of boys participating and the natural and respectful interaction between all the students on stage. Research tells us that boys and minorities are particularly at-risk for dropping out of school and delinquency, and while school leaders often use lack of interest from boys as a deterrent to providing dance programs, it has been my personal and professional experience that dance class engages boys in school and provides a place for them to thrive. In fact, dance for boys is not dissimilar to sports as an outlet, minus the competitive emphasis. This is perhaps especially true for boys who are vulnerable to teasing and being ostracized for their lack of traditional athletic ability.
After the conclusion of the dance residency at my son’s school, he came home with a story. He confessed to me that he had been teased at the beginning of the year for trying to make up dances in the playground area dedicated to handball. After the dance residency, which all the boys in his class had enjoyed and enthusiastically participated in, my son suggested a playground compromise. He and the other boys who liked to play on the handball court invented a new game incorporating dance breaks (think end zone dances) into the sport. The ringleader of the teasing ended up being the biggest fan of the new activity, and for the rest of the year you could see boys playing handball, dancing, and laughing together on the sidelines together as if that was the most natural thing in the world (and it is).
