Connecting with Students

Since its inception, Attack Theatre has reached approximately 3,000 students annually, through in-school performances and arts in education residencies. Attack Theatre's in-school residences work to demystify dance and the process of creation. Residency participants develop a lens through which to view and create dance, and classes focus on heightening the individuals' natural movement abilities.

In-School Residencies - Each year, teaching artists conduct 3 -15 day residencies in schools enhancing the curriculum through movement and utilizing kinetic modalities of learning.

In-School Performances - Attack Theatre presents the interactive and engaging Blueprint for Dance in K-12 schools. Performed by company dancers, these dynamic performances use selected works from Attack Theatre's current season and offer young audiences a glimpse into the making of dance. All performances are carefully tailored for age appropriateness and are always followed by a question and answer session.

The Alphabet Project - The Alphabet Project was piloted in the 2007/2008 Season with first graders. Movement is a form of nonverbal communication with its own "body" language. Expressing thoughts and feelings through physicality and rhythm create a compelling parallel to expressing through language and words. In this project it became clear (and as significant arts education research supports) that linking letters to form words and words to form sentences is similar to the same process of connecting movements. The project with first graders led to a greater retention of spelling words and a deeper understanding of the word's meaning.

Together, the students and artists created an Action Alphabet of movements for each letter of the alphabet. The students used kinetic and rhythmic skills to "spell" the assigned weekly spelling words. Once the words were "choreographed" we delved deeper into the definition and essence of each word (i.e. "sea" was fluid and rolling, "hop" was sharp and energetic). The students' retention was extraordinary as was their excitement level to tackle the next weeks' spelling list.

Connecting with Teachers

Attack Theatre values the powerful relationship between the classroom teacher and the teaching artist. Attack Theatre annually works with teachers (music, English, social studies, math, physical education) engaging them in professional development workshops to integrate the arts into their classroom. These workshops further enhance the effectiveness of arts in education residencies and the long-lasting impact of classroom teachers armed with renewed awareness and skills of the arts. Their students see their teachers as active learners/participants in the creative process and the teachers experience the transformational power of the arts alongside their students.