By Steve Sucato
Continuing GroundWorks DanceTheater’s decade-long partnership with Rainey Institute, the company is wrapping up an 8-week program of community-based dance instruction. The program, consists of a series of mini residencies in dance instruction for 3rd-8th grade students of the pre-professional afterschool program at Rainey Dance Academy (RDA), and the Saturday Communities class Intro to Ballet/Creative Movement for students ages 2.5-5 and 6-8 all taught by GroundWorks company artists and guest artists Antonio Brown and Peter Chu.
Part of GroundWorks’ dance PROject, a customizable residency program designed for students who have dance training or experience, focused on, among other things, gross and fine motor skills including dexterity, locomotion, gesture-based and balletic movement as well as social-emotional skills and outcomes.
In partnership with Rainey Institute, Rainey Dance Academy and their creative movement/intro to ballet class for Saturday Communities, each of GroundWorks teaching artists were in charge of building the curriculum for their own residency, as well as producing a section of a dance by the end of their residency.
Rainey’s Saturday Communities program highlights “the powerful role that the arts play in creating and building communities around the world, and how artistic expression intersects with cultural traditions, societal constructs, customs, and more. Rainey Dance Academy “specifically focuses on providing passionate, curious, and collaborative young dancers in Greater Cleveland communities with pre-professional dance education and the necessary tools for aspiring dancers to succeed artistically, professionally, and personally.” Its vision is “to uplift the value of dance, inspiring participants to view dance as an equal career and educational opportunity, while motivating dancers to learn and present their best selves.”
GroundWorks’ 8-week program culminates in two cumulative dance shows at the Rainey Institute,1705 E. 55th St., Cleveland.
Students in the Saturday Communities program, taught by GroundWorks’ company artists Teagan Reed and Madison Pineda, will perform on May 7,2022. The young dancers will show a short ballet phrase, demonstrate their knowledge of dance shapes through freeze dance, and finally reveal a body obstacle course showcasing their understanding of level and locomotion.
The show for students of the pre-professional afterschool program will take place on May 11, 2022. It features a magical theme and dances to songs from the 2021 Disney film Encanto including “Columbia Mi Encanto” as the RDA performance song. Each of GroundWorks’ company artists worked with the students to collaboratively create the final dance mirroring the GW creative process with the students. The company artists also choreographed each other into the dance, so the final performance will feature the company artists performing alongside RDA’s students.
Photos by Victoria Rumzis
