Outreach
Dance in Schools
Creative Dance Center believes everyone should have opportunities to experience the joy and transformative power of dance. CDC creates meaningful opportunities to move, create, learn, and connect by bringing joyful, student-centered dance education directly into schools through residencies, arts integration, adaptive and inclusive programming, school performances, and professional development for educators.
Community Engagement
Creative Dance Center partners with community organizations to expand access to dance and movement experiences for children, families, and people of all ages and abilities. Through ongoing partnerships, workshops, performances, and inclusive programs, we create opportunities for creativity, connection, and joyful movement throughout King County and beyond.
Dance in Schools
Bring Movement, Creativity, and Learning to Your School
Since 1981, Creative Dance Center has partnered with schools throughout King County to bring joyful, inclusive dance education directly to students.
Our programs nurture creativity, self-expression, collaboration, and discovery through movement. We offer in-school residencies, school performances, professional development for educators, and customized dance experiences for learners of all ages and abilities.
Creative Dance Center teaching artists bring engaging, student-centered dance education directly into schools. Grounded in our nationally and internationally recognized Brain-Compatible Dance Education (BCDE) methodology, lessons balance teacher-directed activities with opportunities for students to explore, make choices, collaborate, and develop their own movement ideas.
Pricing varies. Grant-supported and subsidized programming may be available for qualifying schools. Contact us for details or financial aid information.
What We Offer (click titles for details):
In-School Dance Residencies
Our five-part lesson plan moves students through BrainDance, exploration of a dance concept, skill development, creating through improvisation and choreography, reflection, and cooling down. This balance of structure and creativity, skill development and exploration, repetition and novelty supports students in becoming skilled movers, critical thinkers, inventive creators, successful collaborators, and respectful responders.
Students discover dance as a powerful means of creative expression, communication, and learning. Residencies can also make meaningful connections to subjects such as language arts, math, science, and social studies.
Programs can be customized for:
- Pre-K through Grade 12
- General education and inclusive classrooms
- Self-contained special education classrooms
- After-school programs
Our teaching artists collaborate with classroom teachers to adapt instruction for a wide range of learning styles, abilities, and needs.
Lessons align with Washington State K-12 Arts Learning Standards for Dance, National Core Arts Standards, and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) competencies.
Arts Integration
Dance is a powerful tool for learning. By physically experiencing concepts, students deepen understanding while strengthening critical thinking, creativity, and engagement.
During residencies, students might:
- Explore geometry and spatial relationships through movement
- Embody the water cycle and states of matter
- Investigate poetry, vocabulary, and storytelling through dance
- Develop collaboration and communication skills through creative problem-solving
Adaptive & Inclusive Dance Programs
Creative Dance Center believes every child belongs in dance.
Our teaching artists have experience in inclusive classrooms and self-contained special education settings, adapting lessons to support diverse learning styles, communication needs, physical abilities, and sensory preferences. We provide multiple ways for students to participate, communicate, move, and contribute while honoring each learner’s strengths and abilities.
Kaleidoscope School Performances
Bring live dance directly to your school with Kaleidoscope Dance Company, CDC’s youth dance company. These interactive performances combine artistic excellence with audience participation and discussion.
Each performance includes:
- An engaging live dance concert
- Guided audience participation
- Student Q&A
- Teacher resources
For many students, this may be their first live dance performance and an opportunity to see young people express ideas, emotions, and stories through movement.
Professional Development for Educators
Movement belongs in every classroom.
Our professional development workshops introduce educators to BrainDance, Brain-Compatible Dance Education, movement-based teaching strategies, social-emotional learning through movement, and tools that support classroom engagement and self-regulation.
Teachers leave with practical strategies they can immediately apply across subject areas and grade levels.
Why Schools Choose Creative Dance Center
Inclusive and Accessible
Our approach welcomes neurodiverse and multilingual learners, students with disabilities, and beginning movers and experienced dancers alike. We believe every child has ideas worth expressing and every body and mind belongs in dance.
Experienced
For 45 years, Creative Dance Center has been a leader in innovative, inclusive dance education. Our teaching artists bring deep knowledge of child development, Brain-Compatible Dance Education, and inclusive teaching practices to their work with students and educators.
School Partners
Recent school partners include:
- James Baldwin Elementary School
- Bryant Elementary School
- Wedgwood Elementary School
- Cedar Park Elementary School
- View Ridge Elementary School
- Lawton Elementary School
- Thornton Creek Elementary School
- Shoreline School District
Let’s Build a Program Together
Whether you’re interested in a single workshop, multi-week residency, Kaleidoscope school performance, after-school program, family engagement event, or professional development for educators, we’d love to learn more about your students and goals.
Programs are customized to meet the needs of your school community.
Grant-supported and subsidized programming may be available for qualifying schools.
Community Engagement
Looking for Community-Based Programs?
Creative Dance Center partners with community organizations such as Mary’s Place and Hunger Intervention Program to bring movement, creativity, and connection to children, families, and communities throughout King County.
We put our mission and vision into practice every day, making joyful dance accessible to our community.
Our Mission:
Connecting body and mind to transform lives through dance.
Our Vision:
A joyful and collaborative community that knows how to move and how to move the world.
Learn more about our free and reduced cost programming for nonprofit and community organizations.