Mission
The mission of Luna Dance & Creativity is to bring creativity, equity and community to every child’s life through the art of dance.
Founder
Patricia Reedy, Director of Teaching and Learning
Directors
Nancy Ng, Executive Director of Creativity & Policy
Patricia Reedy, Executive Director of Creativity & Pedagogy
John-Mario Arcilla Sevilla, Director at Large
Jochelle Pereña, Director of Programs & Teaching Artist
Faculty & staff
Mary Jane Agnew, Development Assistant
Moriah Costa, Teaching Artist, School & Community
Kimiko Guthrie, Professional Learning Manager
Zoe Huey, Teaching Artist, School & Community
Sally OuYang, Programs Assistant
Alisa Rasera, Guest Teaching Artist, Professional Learning
Genoa Sperske, Guest Teaching Artist, School & Community
Helena Teply-Figman, Development Assistant
Luna directors and faculty teach and administer all programs
Contact
lunadancecreativity.org
1831 Solano Ave #7788, Berkeley, CA 94707
510-883-1118
Nancy Ng
nng@lunadancecreativity.org
Date established
March 8, 1992
Programs and services
Professional Learning is a teaching and learning center for dance artists, teachers, and social workers. This is the only dance resource in California which solely focuses on dance pedagogy and instruction for those working with children and youth ages 0-17; and also provides model programs for artists, teachers and policymakers to view, so they can learn from best practices in dance teaching. Professional Learning services include: entry level through continuing education workshops; arts education forums and roundtables; Summer Institutes; Practitioner Exchanges-lesson studies and issues of practice inquiry; coaching; an extensive resource library; curriculum; internship opportunities; consultation and coaching; and certification.
School & Community Alliances uses a unique side-by-side professional development (PD) model to work with schools and districts to build sustainable, high quality, standards-based dance programs for children pre-K through 12th grade. Through model dance classes, coaching, onsite in-services, in-depth PD and family dance events, Luna artists work with teachers, site administrators and parent councils to make dance education part of every child’s core educational experience. Our work is currently focused in Oakland Unified School District where we are realizing the district’s Dance Learning in the 21st Century: Blueprint for Teaching and Learning Dance K-12.
MPACT (Moving Parents & Children Together) brings relationship-based curriculum and embodied parent education to families with young children ages 0-8 in the child welfare system. We partner with social service agencies to bring parent-child dance classes to families in the process of reunification; including incarcerated women, women living in domestic violence or homeless shelters, women in residential treatment facilities, and immigrant families. MPACT also houses an internship program that develops dance artists as they bring parent-child dance into their communities. MPACT classes, taught in English and Spanish, are offered free to the community at Oakland public libraries and at partner residential treatment locations.
Studio Lab is the only dance studio program on the west coast that focuses solely on building the dance-making skills of young choreographers, ages 5-17. Using the elements of dance, the body (whole and part) moving in space, energy and time students create their own dances, revise and edit their work and perform their choreography for peers. As students progress through the program they learn more advanced choreographic devices and forms, and move from creating solos to choreographing duets and group work. Advanced students share their dances at Luna’s annual Celebration of Dance Learning event. Tuition assistance for the academic year program and summer dance camps is provided to low income students.
Early Childhood Education is a core component of all Luna programs. Parent-child classes are offered to children 0-4 in our Studio Lab, embodied parent education of early childhood development is a key service of MPACT, our SCA department includes projects in local Head Start centers, and we offer a full palette of PD workshops for early childhood educators through Professional Learning.
Organizational Consulting is provided to dance and other organizations as they create, expand, or restructure their dance programs. Services offered include strategic planning, professional development for staff, leadership training, assessment and evaluation.
Clients & partnerships
Numbers served
800-1200 students annually through SCA and Studio Lab
300-400 families annually through MPACT
200-350 artists and teachers annually through professional learning
25,000-50,000 students annually by professional learning participants
List reflects former and current clients and partnerships.
School Districts and Colleges
Albany Unified School District
Berkeley Unified School District
California Department of Education
Del Norte County District
Los Angeles Unified School District
Marin City Sausalito Unified School District
Marin County Office of Education
Mills College (Dance and Education Depts.)
Oakland Unified School District (in depth work in various K-5 schools)
Piedmont Unified School District
San Francisco Unified School District
San Francisco State University Dance Dept.
Santa Cruz County Arts Alliance
Early Childhood
Alameda Family Services
Alice Street Learning Center
Arroyo Viejo Child Development Center (CDC)
Berkeley Y Headstart Centers
Berkeley Unified School District (CDC)
Brookfield CDC
California Department of Education Preschool Learning Foundations
Center of Gravity School
Chabot Community College
City of Oakland Early Headstart
De Colores Headstart
First Five Alameda County
Kaiser ECC, Oakland Unified
Kidango, Alameda County
Las Positas Community College
Lotus Bloom
Marcus Foster Education Fund
Marin County Office of Education
Merritt College
OUSD Early Education Department (17 child development centers)
Siskiyou College ECE Summit
St. Vincent’s Day Home
Tilden Elementary (preK-3rd grade)
Performing Arts Companies and Organizations
American College Dance Association Festival
AXIS Dance Company, Oakland, CA
Canyon Dance Company, Flagstaff, Arizona
California Dance Education Association
Dance the Bay (UC Berkeley)
Dance IS Festival
Dancers’ Group
Foolish Operations
National Dance Education Organization
Opera Piccola
San Francisco Ballet
Santa Barbara Dance Institute
VSAart/Kennedy Center
Social Service Agency Partnerships and Clients
Asian Women’s Shelter, San Francisco
Family Support Services of the Bay Area, Oakland
Lifelong Medical Health Center – Project Pride, Oakland
Lotus Bloom, Oakland
Magnolia Women’s Recovery Center, Oakland and Hayward
Solid Foundation, Oakland
Trybe, Berkeley
Tri-Valley Haven, Livermore
Women’s Daytime Drop In Center, Berkeley
Awards, conferences, publications
Special Recognition
Community Excellence Award, Red Oak Opportunity Fund, 2017 (Reedy)
City of Berkley Proclamation, 2017, 2014
Milestone Award, National Guild for Community Arts Education, 2016 (Ng)
Dance Teacher of the Year, Dance Teacher Magazine, 2015 (Pereña)
Generous Heart Award (national, Dance Studio Life July 2014)
National Dance Education Organization Outstanding Dance Educator (Reedy), 2008
Alameda County Office of Education Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership, 2007
Isadora Duncan Dance Award, 2003-04
National Dance Education Organization Mentorship (Ng and Reedy), 2003
Women’s Initiative for Self-Employment Woman of the Year-business & artist (Reedy)1998
Conference Presentations
American for the Arts annual convention, 2017
California Alliance for Arts Education, 2000, 2009
California County Superintendents’ Educational Services Association, 2011
California Dance Education Association – 2000, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2018 (Ng, keynote)
California Head Start conference, Riverside, CA, 2015
Embody/In MyBody annual conference, Vancouver, 2015 (Reedy, keynote)
Kennedy Center VSA Conference in Arts and Special Education, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2024
National Dance Education Organization – 2002-2022 (annually, multiple faculty)
National Guild for Community Arts Education, 2010, 2012, 2017, 2022 (Ng, Reedy)
Teacher Action Research Institute, 2012
VSAarts webinar January 2014
Featured in publications (print and online)
Berkeleyside, 2014, 2012, 2022
Berkeley Times, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017
Contact Quarterly, 2008
Dance Education in Practice, 2017
Dance Magazine, 2003
Dance Studio Life, 2011, 2013, 2014
Dance Teacher, 2003, 2006, 2011, 2012, 2017
Danza Hoy, 2004
East Bay Express, 2015, 2016
East Bay Monthly, 2012, 2017
Huffington Post, 2013, 2014
Journal for Physical Education, Health, Recreation and Dance, 2005
KQED, 2011
Leadership Magazine, 2008
Mills Quarterly, 2017
San Francisco Chronicle, 2012, 2022
San Francisco Examiner, 2012, 2013
Teaching Artist Journal, 2004
Publications & Podcast
Body, Mind & Spirit IN ACTION: a teacher’s guide to creative dance, ©2003, 2nd ed. ©2015
Bi-monthly article, InDance, 2007- present
Dance Education in Practice, 2017, 2018
Teaching Artist Guild Quarterly, 2020
Research
Grants received over last 5 years
Alameda County Arts Commission
Alameda County First Five Every Child Counts
Banks Family Foundation
Barrios Trust
Berkeley Civic Arts Commission
Louis L. Borick Foundation
California Arts Council
Capezio Foundation
Clif Family Foundation
Walter & Elise Haas Fund
Clarence E. Heller Foundation
Helzel Family Foundation
William & Flora Hewlett Foundation
Joseph & Vera Long Foundation
Marin Community Foundation (donor advised fund)
National Endowment for the Arts
Oakland Fund for the Arts
Sam Mazza Foundation
San Francisco Foundation
Morris Stulsaft Foundation
Quest Foundation
TRIO Foundation
Wells Fargo Foundation
Bernard E. & Alba Witkin Charitable Foundation
Zellerbach Family Foundation
Degrees & education
Luna faculty hold university degrees in dance and education at the BA, BFA, MA, MFA, PhD level. Some hold California State Teaching credentials. All have earned Luna certification and engage in annual continuing education activities.