Student & Educator Resources
Dallas Black Dance Theatre has a history of arts education excellence. Our arts-in-education residencies and outreach programs are designed to build critical thinking skills, connect youth to themselves and their own culture, and to invigorate the educational process by building connections between the construction and execution of dance as an art form and traditional learning techniques. Each year DBDT exposes over 20,000 Dallas ISD school children to the dance forms of ballet, modern, jazz, hip-hop and African dance. An additional 20,000 students share DBDT in this experience nationally and internationally.
Contact us today to schedule your program!
In-School Programs
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In-Person & Virtual Options Available
A 60-minute crash course in “what is dance?” this lecture-demonstration introduces students to ballet, modern, and jazz dance. DBDT directors share the history and differences between each technique while the dancers demonstrate on stage. Students learn how dance progresses from simple steps to full choreography by watching excerpts from the company’s repertoire. Afterward, the dancers introduce themselves and their artistic background and the students have an opportunity to ask questions. Now it is time for the students to dance! DBDT directors lead the students through a dance combination of simple hand gestures and clapping from their seats. Just like the dancers, the students learn to master the phrase through attentiveness and practice.
Student Matinees are provided annually in conjunction with DBDT’s Cultural Awareness (February) at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre and DBDT: Encore!’s Rising Excellence (April) at the Moody Performance Hall. Each school is provided with educational study guides for teachers and performance programs and souvenir bookmarks for students to enhance the performance experience.
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Successful bodies are always in motion. DBDT’s Bodies in Motion Program uses dance as a medium to encourage students to make good choices towards a healthy/active lifestyle while developing important life skills for a successful future. Focused on childhood obesity, the 6-week residency encourages youth and teens to be active through dance in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The curriculum stresses a healthy warm-up for muscles, injury prevention, good nutrition, and the importance of breathing and staying hydrated. In addition, students develop creativity, positive self-esteem, and problem-solving skills for a healthy mind, too.
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Dance your way to an A+ on your next math test! Working with the classroom teacher, DBDT’s Lead Outreach Teacher designs a 6-week residency that addresses a specific academic challenge in math, science, or social studies through dance. The program offers an alternative approach to learning that engages students mentally, physically, and socially. They discover the practical applications of abstract concepts which make learning relatable, engaging, and fun!
Contact us today to schedule your program!
Virtual Student Matinees
Are you a teacher or administrator at a charter, home, private, or public school?
Reserve your virtual student matinee today! Designed with Texas students in mind, our TEKS-aligned virtual performance features interactive audience participation segments, educational dance performances from our award-winning company AND a complimentary educational study guide to help lead class discussions.
Key Details
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TEKS-aligned curriculum (Grades K–12) that meets the current standard adopted by the Texas State Board of Education
Performed for 5 million arts patrons and 3 million children worldwide
1992, 1996 & 2012 Olympic performers
2017 Texas Medal of Arts recipient in Arts Education
Designated an American Masterpiece Touring Artist by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2008
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Since our program began in 2021, Dallas Black Dance Theatre has served over 135,000 students in every grade level in:
Arlington ISD
Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD
Dallas ISD
Duncanville ISD
Fort Worth ISD
Lancaster ISD
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Step 1: Contact us to schedule your program
Step 2: Educators receive TEKs-aligned study guide
Step 3: Educators receive access (via a password protected link) to their Virtual Student Performance
Step 4: A pre- and post-performance survey is requested to be submitted by all educators to help support future free & reduced access to your schoolItem description
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FINE ARTS
Kindergarten – 5
The student is expected to arrange components intuitively to create artworks (2.b)
Middle School
The student is expected to explore career and avocational opportunities in art such as various design, museum, and fine arts fields (3.d)
High School
The student is expected to examine and research career, entrepreneurial, and avocational opportunities in art (3.d).
SCIENCE
Kindergarten – 5
The student is expected to observe and describe the ways that objects can move such as in a straight line, zigzag, up and down, back and forth, round and round, and fast and slow (6.d)
ENGLISH LANGUAGE & READING
Kindergarten – 5
The student is expected to predict what might happen next in text based on the cover, title, and illustrations (4.a)
Middle School
The student is expected to write a poem using poetic techniques e.g., rhyme scheme, meter (15.b.i)
MATH
Kindergarten – 5
The student is expected to recognize instantly the quantity of a small group of objects in organized and random arrangements (2.d)
High School
The student is expected to apply mathematics to problems arising in everyday life, society, and the workplace (1.a)
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Middle School
The student is expected to perform locomotor skills in dynamic fitness, sport, and rhythmic activities (1.a)
High School
The student is expected to participate in a variety of activities that develop health-related physical fitness activities including aerobic exercise to develop cardiovascular efficiency (4.b)
Contact us today to schedule your program!
