Events:
2008 FILLMORE West Arts Festivals
5/27 - ROSS Festival
5/29 - KEY Festival
6/4 - HYDE Festival
6/6 - STODDERT Festival
Hearst
Walker Jones
Oyster@Adams
space
2008 FILLMORE East Arts Festivals
Backus - TBA
Clark - TBA
Mamie D. Lee - TBA
Raymond - TBA
Rudolph - TBA
West - TBA

Parent Letter - Dance

Dear Parents/Guardian/Family Members:

Welcome to the Dance Program at Fillmore Arts Center!

We meet at least once a week for an hour of dance instruction. The class includes elements of the following: warm-up exercises (to develop body awareness/placement, vocabulary, and dance technique), improvisation (the exploration of movement), creative problem solving, audience decorum, choreography (stage directions, dance sequences/performance) and a general knowledge of dance as an art form (history, performance, appreciation, legendary artists and current events). Our dance class offerings include: African, Tap, Jazz, Modern, Creative Movement and Musical Theatre.

Dance is a participatory art form. Everyone can dance! Through practice, your child will develop both their own skills and self-confidence, as well as an appreciation of the grace and strength of the professional dancer as an artist-athlete.

In accordance with the National Standards for Arts Education and the DCPS Content Standards for Dance, dance students should know and be able to do the following:

  1. Identify and demonstrate movement elements and skills in performance dance.
  2. Use dance as a way to create and communicate meaning.
  3. Apply and demonstrate critical and creative thinking skills in dance.
  4. Demonstrate and understand dance in various cultures and historical periods.
  5. Make connections between dance and other disciplines.
  6. Ability to articulate and describe dance terminology.
  7. Make connections between dance and healthy living.
  8. Understand choreographic principles, processes and structures.
We urge you to encourage your child to SHOW you what they learned every week and to notice their development. All dance students will be assessed through monthly observation charts, Semester Progress Report Cards, portfolio review, classroom assignments and Festival Evening Performances. We require students to wear clothing suitable for dance: leotards, tights/leggings, sweatpants, loose pants (no jeans, skirts or dresses, please), tank tops, barefeet or soft dance shoes/light-weight sneakers. (The Dance Dept. has a large inventory of tap shoes although some students may still need/want to purchase their own tap shoes). Jazz/Modern students need to purchase jazz shoes ). A list of stores is attached. (Please ask for our student discount).

Students are also required to attend and perform at all the Fillmore Festival Evenings and Field Trips. Written notice of not being able to attend must be given to the teacher one week in advance. All students must complete all homework and field trip assignments. We plan many field trips for dance students; many are free and some require a small fee for tickets and transportation. Please let us know if and when you may be available to come with us as a chaperone. We also encourage all parents and friends to attend our performances.

  • We look forward to a fantastic semester with your child! Please feel free to call me at

    (202) 282-2355.

    Sincerely,

    Karen Daniels

    Dance Instructor

Dance Instructors