Notes in Motion Announces Community and Family Programs

Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre (ASDT)’s acclaimed dance education program, Notes in Motion, offers Community and Family Programs, Events and Performances on evenings and weekends. These programs include multi-cultural workshops in different dance styles and techniques, get moving programs, faculty engagement, professional dance performances from Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre with artist talk-backs, nutrition and lifestyle coaching — interactive learning that multi-generations experience together.

Programs include: physical dance classes, small group creative exploration, critical feedback, work sharing, work time, props, costumes, live and recorded music, and group reflection. Community programs can be linked to community goals, challenges, and social issues or organize around the process of making dance theatre. Some community programs culminate in a performance presentation created by program participants. For more info, visit https://notesinmotion.org/school-programs/community-events-and-performances/.

Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre also performs selections from its rich repertory at our partner schools for school assemblies or as part of a Community out-of-school time Program. Some performances are followed by a workshop or discussion about the content of the performance, careers in dance, as well as training, rehearsing, and understanding the process of creating dance. Since 2000, Notes in Motion/Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre has partnered with 140 New York City schools to bring inclusive dance education programs to thousands of underserved 3K-12^th grade students throughout all 5 boroughs. Each program is tailored to the specific needs and population of each school, guided by Notes in Motion's singular approach to arts education: the Movement Exchange Method which combines technical dance instruction with creative skill building and collaborative learning. Programs foster self-discovery, risk-taking, and leadership development — vital life skills that have faltered during the pandemic which dance education nurtures by design. For more information, visit https://notesinmotion.org/school-partnerships/.

”From the inception of Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre, I have been driven by the vision that you cannot create dance in the now unless you are thinking about audiences of the future.”

–Amanda Selwyn, Artistic/Executive Director

Upcoming Events

Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre Performance & Workshop 

Cypress Hill Collegiate Prep., Brooklyn, NY

February 1, 2024

Family Engagement Event

PS 177 & District 75 PreK Center, Queens, NY

February 9, 2024

Family Engagement Event

PS 126 Bronx, NY

February 16, 2024

Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre Choreography Workshop: Motifs & Structures

BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center, NYC

February 21, 2024

Family Engagement Event

Cypress Hill Collegiate Prep., Brooklyn

March 7, 2024

Family Engagement Event

PS 177 & District 75 PreK Center, Queens, NY

April 11, 2024

Family Engagement Event

PS 63 Queens, NY

May 8, 2024

Family Engagement Event

Bushwick Leaders High School, Brooklyn, NY

May 9, 2024

Family Engagement Event

PS 376 Queens, NY

May 10, 2024

Family Engagement Event

Cypress Hill Collegiate Prep., Brooklyn

May 14, 2024

Family Engagement Event

PS 177 & District 75 PreK Center, Queens, NY

May 17, 2024

Family Engagement Event

PS 333, Manhattan, NYC

May 19, 2024

Mission

Notes in Motion provides dance education programs to the NYC Public Schools in styles including modern, ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, Latin, African, and more. These programs are united by our singular approach to arts education, The Movement Exchange Method, which combines technical instruction with creative skill-building and collaborative learning. Programs foster self-discovery, risk-taking, and leadership development. We aim to provide access to the art form of dance to inspire the next generation of dance appreciators.

History

Since 2000, Notes in Motion has brought dance programs to over 140 schools and 166,000 students in New York City. We have programs in all 5 boroughs and reach diverse student populations from 3K-12^th grade. We are a vendor of the NYC Department of Education and all our programs reflect the learning standards as outlined in their Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts. We create long-lasting arts partnerships with schools and inspire the greater community of that school with the beauty, magic, and vitality of dance. We do not offer any cookie-cutter programs. Each program is custom-tailored to the specific needs and population of each school partner. We work collaboratively with classroom teachers at every stage from program planning, implementation, performance/community sharing, assessment, and evaluation. Our Teaching Artists guide students through a unique creative process, creating connections with other academic subjects and fostering active learning—students are creators, improvisors, and collaborators. We have an Education Ensemble of 50 experienced Teaching Artists with advanced degrees and extensive performance and choreography backgrounds in several dance styles and techniques. Press highlights includes a profile in Dance Teacher Magazine of Artistic Director Amanda Selwyn’s workshop at the NYC Arts-in-Education Roundtable’s 2011 Face to Face Conference and a profile in NYFA’s Current: A Magazine for Artists.

Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre creates dynamic dance theatre that activates emotional expression in a rich and abstract collage. Through an interplay between athletic and articulate motion, we present theatrical and immediate works that engage audiences from start to finish and beckon a response of thought, feeling, and soul.

Founded in 2000, Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre has presented over 95 productions at NYC venues including Baruch Performing Arts Center, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, New York Live Arts, Dance Theatre Workshop, Dance New Amsterdam, Danspace Project, Ailey Citigroup Theater, The Kumble Theater, John Jay College, and Mark Morris Dance Center. The company has been presented twice at Jacob's Pillow, at Westfest, DUMBO Dance Festival, Dixon Place, Dance Teacher Summit, COOL NY, Movement Research, Wassaic Project, and Pushing Progress Series. Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre has toured to festivals, presented open rehearsals, interactive performance events and workshops, and offers arts education programming through Notes in Motion to students and families in the NYC public schools. For more information, visit http://www.amandaselwyndance.org.

Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre/Notes in Motion programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. The company is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

#