By Sarah Hricko

CLEVELAND (April 17, 2020) – DANCECleveland, northeast Ohio’s premiere dance presenting organization is proud to offer young movers ages 3- 6 the opportunity to join in a free Facebook Live session of their movement and literacy program, Read to Learn…Dance to Move. The 30 min program will be posted on DANCECleveland’s Facebook page on Friday, April 24, 2020 at 1:30 pm- 2:00 pm.

Read To Learn…Dance to Move is a curriculum-based program that promotes language, literacy, and movement by engaging students through tactile learning, creative thinking, and imagination. Instructor, Connie Laettner will guide children through the movement and incorporate the children’s book Giraffes Can’t Dance, written by Giles Andreae.  The book leads to an exploration of the story and the dance form through virtual open-ended questions from the instructor.  Next, the children experiment with movement. Finally, the instructor teaches a dance that retells the story and everyone will perform the new dance together at home. This program was originally designed as an 8-week program for the public-school systems. To learn more about the program, visit: https://www.dancecleveland.org/educational-outreach/read-to-learn.

“We are happy to provide this free resource to parents and their preschool and kindergarten aged children while the children are at home.” Pam Young, Executive Director of DANCECleveland said. “Typically we run this program in the public school systems in the spring. Since we can’t do the normal 8 week session, we are excited to offer a free session online while students are at home. We are also working on creating a three-session version that school systems can share directly with their students”.

Read to Learn… Dance to Move is a copyrighted program of DANCECleveland that is generously supported by funders including: The Ohio Arts Council, The Reinberger Foundation, The Bruening Foundation, & Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation.

DANCECleveland is also looking forward to their 2020-2021 season of dance. Subscriptions are on sale at dancecleveland.org or by calling 216-991-9000.

 DANCECleveland, a Cleveland, Ohio based non-profit, is one of a handful of presenters in the nation that is dedicated solely to the presentation of modern and contemporary dance.  The centerpiece of the organization’s programming is its annual performance series. The performances are surrounded by an array of educational outreach events including artist-run master classes, residency programs, student matinees, pre-performance lectures and post-performance Q&A sessions, designed both to break artistic boundaries and provide community access to the dance aesthetic and dance luminaries that DANCECleveland brings to Northeast Ohio.

DANCECleveland is generously funded by Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.

The Ohio Arts Council helped fund DANCECleveland with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

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