Public Outreach
Elders Outreach
Youth Outreach
Tango in Health
This project funded in part by the the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities
Photos by Isaac Oboka
Youth Outreach
Today more than ever the arts are needed by our young people as a forum for safe expression, communication, exploration, imagination and cultural understanding. The overarching goal of the Tango Youth program is to address this need in the immediate, physical format of tango partner dance.
We emphasize the skills of improvisation and encourage all students, both male and female, to learn both leading and following roles. We find this is an excellent tool not only for gaining a mechanical understanding of how the tango works, but also for instilling values of respect, empathy, and collaboration.
During June/July 2009 we taught twelve tango workshops to low income urban children ranging in age from 7-14 years old as part of summer camp programming at Dance Place and Joe's Movement Emporium. We made up dozens of kid-friendly exercises to introduce tango vocabulary and partnering, and began the process of developing tango curriculum for several different age groups. We are currently pursuing opportunities to offer an after-school program throughout academic year.
