Dancing Classrooms on NBC Nightly News

Here it is! The segment on Dancing Classrooms featuring Pierre Dulaine:

Breaking down cultural barriers with dance.

NBC Nightly News

Be sure to watch NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams tonight. Dancing Classrooms will be featured! Check your local listings, and be sure to watch this space–we’ll post the segment if we can.

DCNM Benefit Dance

Nancy Arenas–tireless promoter of all things dance–is hosting a Fusion Tea Dance to benefit Dancing Classrooms New Mexico. Tea dances are held one Sunday a month throughout the year, but the one in February promises to be a very special event.

Seating is limited, so buy your tickets soon and join us at the MCM Elegante Hotel on February 25th, starting at 5:00 pm.

Don’t miss this chance to support DCNM, win a prize or two, and of course dance the night away! To register, call 505-332-0446, email heartnsole3@yahoo.com, or download the registration form at Fusion Tea Dance.

Dancing in Jaffa

Have you seen the trailer for Dancing in Jaffa yet? It’s a documentary set for release in August of this year, made by the producer of Take the Lead. Here’s what the Dancing in Jaffa website says about it:

Dancing In Jaffa is a feature length documentary film that follows Pierre Dulaine’s journey to Jaffa to fulfill his lifelong dream of teaching dance to Jewish-Israeli and Palestinian-Israeli children, then pairing them in a competition … Dancing in Jaffa is both the story of Pierre’s homecoming to a city challenged by change and that of his 10-year old students’ transformation from reluctant participants in a dance competition to determined performers representing their diverse and divisive community … As the film explores how Israelis and Palestinians, living uneasily side-by-side, learn to trust and dance with one another, it also asks the question of how one preserves personal identity in a world that frequently demands assimilation. Through dance, Pierre’s program teaches the children to be proud of who you are, but to respect and embrace others.

This is why we’re working so hard to bring Dancing Classrooms to New Mexico. It’s transformative and unifying. But watch the trailer and see for yourself:

 

Dancing in Jaffa Trailer from kNow Productions on Vimeo.

A few pix

Here are some photos of Nancy’s training week in NYC:

Nancy with the man himself -- Pierre Dulaine

Nancy and John looking pretty darn happy

The new TAs gather for a photo op with Pierre

Updates….

Two major steps have been taken, pilot-wise:

1. Nancy is officially a trained Teaching Artist! She came back excited, exhausted, unnerved but undaunted, thrilled, and ready to take on her first school. (We’ll post pictures soon.)
2. We met with the principal at our Rio Rancho school, and are amazed and impressed by her dedication to the program. We’ve got the schedule mapped out for the 10 weeks, starting in February.

Now we just need to break it to the students … they’ll have to dance together. AUUUUGGGGHHHHHH!

And we’re off!

We’ve got some updates for you fans of DCNM:

First, we’ve raised almost $3200 towards our goal of 15 thousand! If you’d like to donate to the cause, please click the tab for the Fundraising Campaign to find out how. Any amount helps, so don’t be shy!

Second, Nancy leaves for NYC this Sunday to be trained as a Teaching Artist. Good luck and bon voyage, Nancy!

Finally, we’ll be focusing our efforts on one school this spring. The administration and staff at Maggie Cordova have been so enthusiastic and gung-ho that we figure they deserve our undivided attention. We’re very excited to start with a school that is behind the program 100%.

Thanks to everyone for their help, generosity, and passion….

 

 

Dancing Classrooms: Coming to New Mexico

Dancing Classrooms is an internationally-renowned program in 24 cities around the world. It is a 10 week/20 session standards-based social development program for 5th & 8th graders that uses ballroom dancing to change the lives of children. A Steering Committee of passionate local residents plans to pilot this internationally recognized social development program for 5^th graders in one Albuquerque and one Rio Rancho elementary school this coming Spring.  These Pilots are Phase I of Dancing Classrooms New Mexico (December 2011-June 2012). Stayed tuned for updates!