In-person and remote virtual learning options are now available!
The Dancing Wheels Company & School is proud to nurture the minds of students in Pre-K through Grade 12 and college and university settings, as well as students of all ages and abilities at various community organizations, by providing unique opportunities to experience dance and movement in an adaptive and inclusive way. By exposing students to the power of the arts, our unique educational programs create a foundation for students to begin looking at the world through different lenses. All of our residency programs utilize Arts Integration and the Universal Design for Learning to expand knowledge of Ohio’s Core Curriculum Standards and connect to many areas of study including English Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Social Emotional Learning (SEL). Teacher Guides accompany all available assembly-based lecture performances and residencies.
Types of Programs
- General one-hour assembly
- Themed one-hour assemblies based on story ballets, current social issues, history, or science
- Residencies
- Workshops
- Master Classes
Standard Assembly-Based Programs
Perfect for students in Kindergarten up to college, these 45-60 minute programs combine dance and dialogue to educate learners about disability-related issues in an entertaining and informative manner.
After a series of energetic dance excerpts, audience members hear the story of a dancer with a disability who has lived out their dreams despite societal obstacles, emphasizing the important aspects of accessibility. Dancers demonstrate the language of dance through adaptive translation using methods like sign language, shadowing, and audio description. The final message relates to the founder’s dream to dance despite her disability, and to make the arts accessible and available to people of all abilities.
Components of an assembly-based program may include:
Assembly-Based with Story Ballet Theme
These are abbreviated versions of mainstage concerts for in-school performances with the full Company.
- Far East of the Blues. World-renowned choreographer Donald McKayle captures the mood and imagery evoked in the great jazz legend Duke Ellington’s “Far East Suite.”
- Sweet Radio Radicals features music of female singers and songwriters whose music changed society.
- Unconquered Warriors infuses traditional Chinese dance with modern dance and is based on the Asian culture of the Chinese Warriors.
- Walking on Clouds. Using stories of equality/Rosa Parks, this piece mixes words and movement to explore humanity and the boundaries of differences and equality, both emotional and historical-between people with disabilities and people of color.
Assembly-Based with Historical Topic
Featuring 4-6 dancers.
- Far East of the Blues. World-renowned choreographer Donald McKayle captures the mood and imagery evoked in the great jazz legend Duke Ellington’s “Far East Suite.”
- Sweet Radio Radicals features music of female singers and songwriters whose music changed society.
- Unconquered Warriors infuses traditional Chinese dance with modern dance and is based on the Asian culture of the Chinese Warriors.
- Walking on Clouds. Using stories of equality/Rosa Parks, this piece mixes words and movement to explore humanity and the boundaries of differences and equality, both emotional and historical-between people with disabilities and people of color.
Assembly-Based with Science Topic
Perfect for secondary education students, this 45-minute to 1-hour program, including a question-and-answer session, presents information about dance, disability related issues, and science in a fun and informative manner.
- Science: A Catalyst for Art in Motion is an interactive assembly program with dance, disability awareness, and curriculum-based subject matter centered on Newton’s Three Laws of Motion. The program demonstrates such factors as force, acceleration and opposing reactions through the use of the Dancing Wheels Company’s highly technical wheelchairs used for everyday mobility and dance. The program also touches on the science behind wheelchair construction, development, and the technologies that go into the composition of the chair’s metals, wheel circumference and design elements. The main objectives of our Art in Motion and other assembly programs are to inspire, entertain and educate.
Residencies
Customizable residencies are available and designed to meet the unique needs of your students. From one-day workshops to year-long residencies, Dancing Wheels is committed to finding new ways to engage and infuse the arts into the lives of students of all abilities. It has never been easier to get your students moving and learning through the development of high-quality educational programs for students and teachers.
Residencies of 3-5 days can conclude with a lecture performance with the Dancing Wheels Company. Students will have the opportunity to learn the Dancing Wheels methodology of physically integrated dance while expanding on one of the following topics:
- Making a Difference, a one-day residency, incorporates dance with Social Studies and English Standards to address diversity, relationships, communication (both oral and visual) and accessibility.
- Out of the Blues, a four-day residency that explores the history of jazz music with an emphasis on the great Duke Ellington and his revolutionary approach that changed the face of jazz. As the culmination of the residency, students will have the opportunity to present their accomplishments in dance and narration at an assembly-based performance with the Dancing Wheels Company.
- First, Fierce, and For Everyone, Students will identify traits they can develop to create their own first, fierce and for everyone story. With a curriculum tailored to students in Grades K-12, participants will consider the stories of people whose bravery and confidence broke boundaries in world-changing ways. Together with interactive narratives, current event discussions, movement and choreography, students will enjoy an immersive learning experience that will expose them to the principles of inclusive arts and the difference each one can make as pioneers in their own spheres of influence.
- And other programs previously described above including: Alice in Wonderland… like it’s never been seen before! | Daring to Be DUMBO! | Helen Keller: A Tribute to My Teacher | The Snowman
Workshops
Workshops provide participants an in-depth look at physically integrated dance through adaptive translation, integrated partnering techniques, and the opportunity to try dancing in a wheelchair. Multiple instructors are involved to assist study in small groups. A workshop may be tailored to the specific needs of your organization and lasts between 1-3 hours.
Master Classes
An instructor from The Dancing Wheels Company & School teaches a Master Class in various genres of dance such as modern, ballet, or jazz for participants of mixed abilities or specifically for disabled or non-disabled groups.
For details, pricing, or to request an educational program, please contact:
Sara Lawrence-Sucato, Director of Outreach & Community Engagement | outreach@dancingwheels.org | (216) 432-0306