Click here for a list of our 2011-2012 Community Partners
Children's Dance Foundation celebrates the creative spirit in all of us. Our programs are a joyful and affirming experience for all to learn, explore, create, express and achieve. The Community Partnership Program serves children at an average of 25 social service agencies, child development centers, preschools and elementary schools in the Greater Birmingham area. These children include boys and girls who are typical, at risk, or who have special needs.
Through dance, our Community Partnership Program provides much needed opportunities for more than 1000 children each week to feed their imaginations, work together, explore big ideas, and strengthen their bodies and minds. The goals of our program are to provide inviting opportunities for each student to experience dance and enjoy moving; to build students’ skills and confidence; and to provide creative activities for classroom teachers to explore content and skills through dance. We provide two kinds of active learning experiences:
Movement to Music – is a CDF-developed dance curriculum for young children and those with special needs, with live music as an essential element to the experience.It is an imaginative exploration of skills and concepts using dance, songs, stories, games and tactile objects. Every child at each site participates – all ages and abilities, boys and girls together. Weekly classes serve 1000 children at 21 different sites.
“In a class that is working hard on becoming a community, the [dance] class provides many opportunities to celebrate both individual and group successes!” (YWCA Childcare teacher)
“Music and movement is a must in preschool. The classes provide fine and gross motor activities, [work on] listening [skills] and using imagination.” (Brookwood Forest Elementary – Special Needs Preschool Program teacher)
Dance Fundamentals – classes combining modern, jazz and ballet basics are taught each week to 69 students at 4 sites, reaching students who are underserved or at-risk in K-12th grades. The dance sessions instill confidence and teamwork while they explore movement concepts, improvisation and choreography.
“In her dance class, our only six year old, the youngest we have had in years, is learning about patterns, sequences and opposites such as fast/slow and sharp/smooth. She is known to insist on one more leap across the dance floor even after her class has been dismissed and others have exited the room.” (Grace House Education Coordinator)
Partnerships are essential to our mission and CDF has a robust history of local and statewide collaborators: Birmingham City and Jefferson County Schools; YWCA; Better Basics; United Cerebral Palsy; the Alabama Dance Council; and dozens of area child development centers. Our dance classes are an integral part of our partner sites’ curriculum and are eagerly anticipated by the students and teachers alike. Many of our partner sites cannot pay any fee for our classes and must be fully sponsored by Children's Dance Foundation through contributions and grant awards. The remaining partner sites pay only a portion of the overall cost of the services they receive. The balance of the cost must then be secured by grants and contributions.
Community service through the power of dance is the bedrock of our work and we are committed to continuing our work for many years to come and we hope that you will continue to support our mission.
For more information, contact
Charla Cochran
Program Director
205-870-0073
Charla@childrensdancefoundation.org