Carpe Dance Brings Pierre Dulaine, Founder of Dancing Classrooms, to Instruct Seattle’s Highland Park 5th Grade Students During Their First Ballroom Dance Class
Seattle, WA October 7th, 2010 – Carpe Dance is bringing Pierre Dulaine, founder of the nationally successful Dancing Classrooms program, to West Seattle’s Highland Park Elementary School to teach a class of 5th grade students their first ballroom dance class and get them excited to begin this social development program in the Spring. This first class will take place at Highland Park Elementary from 2:00pm – 3:20pm.
Dancing Classrooms was launched in 1994 by Pierre Dulaine and Yvonne Marceau as a not-for-profit project of the American Ballroom Theater Company in New York City. It is an arts-in-education outreach program teaching ballroom dance to the 5th, 8th and 12th grade students of participating schools. As seen in the documentary film Mad Hot Ballroom, Dancing Classrooms is an in-school residency for every child, regardless of his or her background or experience. Dancing Classrooms is about creating an atmosphere that allows students who are typically introverted and reserved to step out and shine. It focuses physical energy and increases health through the joy of movement. It builds self-esteem and interactive social skills as it improves children’s confidence and ability to relate to others.
Pierre Dulaine and Yvonne Marceau describe what Dancing Classrooms is all about: “Dancing is about connections - to our friends, to our families, to our neighbors. It is one of the most expressive ways we celebrate and communicate our cultures and communities. With "Dancing Classrooms," we are able to reach children in existing classroom settings and address fundamental issues of mutual respect and self-esteem — issues that social dance puts into practice. We hope to inspire children through dance to do well, to respect one another, to be proud. This program is about more than dance, it is about teaching children to take a bow.”
Carpe Dance, an Associated Program of Shunpike, is working hard to bring the nationally successful Dancing Classrooms program to Seattle-area schools this year. Their mission is to build social awareness, confidence and self-esteem in children through the practice of social dance, empowering children, their parents and their schools.
Shunpike is a 501(c)(3) non-profit art service organization whose mission is to strengthen the Seattle arts community by partnering with small and mid-size arts groups to develop the business tools they need to succeed. Working in close partnership with these groups, Shunpike helps solve problems quickly and impart vital skills in finance, organizational management and arts administration.
