Dance teaching artists are too often isolated in their teaching settings. Whether as the only dance specialist at a school site or bouncing between multiple school sites in a single day or week, dance teaching artists often feel an absence of professional support. Unsure how to access a sense of a larger community of colleagues and unable to feel comfortable as representative experts of their discipline within their teaching settings, too often dance artists feel burned-out, uninspired, or even driven to leave the profession entirely. Classroom teachers who seek to champion dance at their schools are often alone, too, as the sole advocates for dance.
Luna’s Summer Institute (SI) was created to support dance teaching artists in developing their craft.
Learning in a collegial group of diverse educators, SI participants improve teaching practice, gain confidence as professionals and develop long-lasting systems of support.
Each year 6 dance teaching artists and 6 education practitioners (classroom teachers, social workers, ECE professionals, PE or music specialists) come together for intensive study in the dance discipline. Summer Institute is a bit of a misnomer as Luna’s SI is a yearlong investigation of creativity, culturally-relevant teaching practices, situated learning, and practice teaching.
Who should apply?
- Educators seeking to dive into creativity theory and practice
- Dance teaching artists poised to take their curriculum to the next level of creativity, address specific inquiry in their practice, or at a point when an intensive collegial experience will sustain their engagement with the field
- Seasoned classroom practitioners ready to infuse dance into their programs
- All candidates must be working with children in the United States during the SI year
Luna seeks equity in dance education across the US. Candidates from populations that have been marginalized or who serve under-resourced communities are encouraged to apply.
Summer Institute alumni stay connected and advance the field.
Since 2000, more than 270 practitioners have participated in Luna’s SI, refreshing their teaching of more than 30,000 students each and every year. This ripple effect has shifted the expectations for and implementation of dance in public schools across the nation. Many SI alumni become leaders, widening their spheres of influence. As an inquiry-based organization, Luna seeks to discover new ways to support the evolving field of dance education by deep-listening. Read about the experiences of SI alumni below, or request a copy of Luna’s SI survey report.
Want to continue your learning at home?
Designed to accompany our Workshops and Institutes, Luna’s book Body, Mind & Spirit in ACTION, and the video series of PERFECT IMPERFECT LESSONS aim to empower educators, practitioners, community workers, and more.