EDUCATION PROGRAMS
To learn more about our education mission and more programs, visit our Education Home Page.
Scroll down to learn more about our Classes, Workshops, Residencies, Assemblies, and Performances offered. Offerings include:
Dance for Kindness Assemblies or Workshops; Arrive: Connecting Literature and Dance; Physical Science Moves Assembly or Workshops; The Planets (Gustav Holst); The Four Seasons (Antonio Vivaldi); Communicate Through Dance; Creativity & Choreography: How Dance is Made; College and Career Pathways in Dance & the Performing Arts; Let’s Dance Classes or Workshops; Dance Expressions: Creativity & Choreography Residency or Workshops; Master Classes with Jennifer Backhaus or Guest Choreographers; Dance for Joy and Well-Being Classes or Workshops and More!
Not sure what you’re looking for? Submit a booking/scheduling request with questions or thoughts about what you might want by clicking “Schedule Your Program Today” or reach out directly to our Director of Education & Community Engagement, Nancy Warzer Brady! (nancy@backhausdance.org)
Dance for Kindness
Workshops, Residencies, Assembly, or Performance
Dance for Kindness workshops provide rigorous and adaptive skill-based athletic and creative movement centered around themes of trust and character building, gaining self-confidence, empathy, anti-bullying, non-verbal and verbal communication, teamwork, putting forth your best effort, and being responsible and respectful, aligning with the foundations of youth development. The workshop series is designed to introduce students to contemporary dance in a safe and fun environment to expand students’ athletic potential and coordination/motor skills while instilling healthy and positive ways to express emotions and expand capacity for socialization and resiliency.
Dance for Kindness assemblies for the entire school demonstrate the joy and art of contemporary dance, athleticism, physicality, emotional expression and the human connection and allow students to witness the beauty of a dance company working together to put on an athletic, impressive, and meaningful performance. The assembly will focus on themes of kindness, as well as values like empathy, anti-bullying, non-verbal and verbal communication, teamwork, putting forth your best effort, and being responsible and respectful.
The Planets (Gustav Holst)
Assembly or Performance
Backhausdance performs The Planets set to Gustav Holst’s musical movement suite by the same name. With fluidity and strength, dancers traverse the musical landscapes of Mars, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter and Neptune. Steeped in choreographer Jennifer Backhaus’ detailed and meticulously sculpted style and imbued with her refined yet playful sense of whimsy, The Planets brings us an elegant and seamless fusion of classical and contemporary dance that will excite young and old. The corps perform in solos, duets, trios, and full ensemble, as they explore different levels through reach, lifts, leaps, and floor work. Among the many choreographic tools employed are canon, unison, accumulation, and replacement. Jennifer Backhaus emphasizes contrasts between the different movements of Holst's dynamic work, her choreography by turns percussive and slashing or fluid and tranquil – and the dancers' bodies respond to what they hear.
Arrive: Connecting Literature and Dance
Assembly or Performance
Through Segerstrom’s Arts Teach Program, Backhausdance is happy to present the Arrive: Connecting Literature and Dance Assembly. In this Assembly, Artistic Director, Jennifer Backhaus, and dancers explore how the creation of dance relates to writing and literature through the company’s award-winning piece, Arrive, based on a poem by Maya Angelou, using an alphabet of movement.
Note: for Segerstrom’s Arts Teach Programs, bookings will go through Segerstrom’s website, click above.
Communicate Through Dance
Assembly
Through Segerstrom’s Arts Teach Program, Backhausdance is happy to present the Communicate Through Dance Assembly. Discover many different ways to communicate ideas and emotions through movement as Backhausdance gives you a glimpse into how dances are created.
Note: for Segerstrom’s Arts Teach Programs, bookings will go through Segerstrom’s website, click above.
Backhausdance Meets Vivaldi - A Journey Through the Four Seasons
Assembly, Performance
Originally commissioned by McCallum Theater Education for Backhausdance performs Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, written around 1723, as the dancers fluidly move through spring, summer, autumn and winter in this full-length work that juxtaposes harmony and invention. Each season has an ensemble movement for six dancers and then a movement danced by a smaller number of dancers, and connects qualities of the movement to themes of each season. In Spring there will be a trio, in Summer a duet, in Fall a quartet and in Winter a solo. This assembly is rich in movement exploring positive and negative space, initiated by contact, with shapes and movement generated by weight sharing. Some parts are choreographed to closely visualize the music, whereas others offer up contrast of movement and music. The space is generously explored from high to low levels and everything in between with dancers reaching, rolling and collapsing. Students are invited to participate and ask questions after the performance.
Creativity, Choreography, & Dance
Residency
Through Segerstrom’s Arts Teach Program, Backhausdance is happy to present the Creativity, Choreography, and Dance Residency. Throughout a 6- to 12-week period, students will experiment with movement dynamics, explore basic locomotor skills, and increase their spatial awareness in a weekly 1-hour class. Students will thrive in a safe environment while participating in the creation and performance of original dance works.
Note: for Segerstrom’s Arts Teach Programs, bookings will go through Segerstrom’s website, click above.
Physical Science Moves
Assembly, Performance, or Residency
Through Segerstrom’s Arts Teach Program, Backhausdance is happy to present the Physical Science Moves Assembly. The assembly is an interactive science experience based on the company's piece, The Elasticity of the Almost. Six dancers perform excerpts of the piece as a tool to demonstrate grade specific science concepts through engaging and interactive movement experiments.
In the Physical Science Moves Residency, students will participate in classes and be exposed to modern dance and will experience how moving our bodies can enhance our understanding of physical science concepts. Opportunities to create material will encourage students to explore, experiment and develop their ideas with the optional goal of a culminating performance. Designed to address Next Generation Science Standards cross cutting concepts, this residency can be adapted to complement the curriculum of your classroom.
Note: for Segerstrom’s Arts Teach Programs, bookings will go through Segerstrom’s website, click above.
Everyone Can Dance
Workshop
Through Segerstrom’s Arts Teach Program, Backhausdance is happy to present the Everyone Can Dance Workshop. Learn the essential tools of choreography by creating and performing a dance using different movement dynamics and basic motor skills.
Note: for Segerstrom’s Arts Teach Programs, bookings will go through Segerstrom’s website, click above.
The Joy of Backhausdance
Workshop, Residency
This workshop or residency is intended for Multigenerational participants and/or senior citizens! It could take place at senior centers or community organizations and could be formatted as an introductory class session, a workshop series, and/or an artist residency. Everyone has the potential to dance! The class – which will include elements of modern, ballet, and creative movement – can be done seated in a chair, holding onto a chair, or standing freely, and will enhance participants’ balance, cognition, motor skills, and overall happiness. Dance is good for your brain!
Dance Expressions: Creativity & Choreography
Workshop, Residency
Throughout a 6 to 12-week period, students will experiment with movement dynamics, explore basic locomotor skills, and increase their spatial awareness in a weekly 45-minutes hour class. Students will thrive in a safe environment while participating in the creation and performance of original dance works.
Masterclasses
Workshop, Residency
Jennifer Backhaus’ master classes are representative of the movement style and vocabulary of Backhausdance, and are meant for experienced dancers. Ms. Backhaus’ classes are crafted to give dancers the technical ability to find balance between control and release. The combination of ballet technique and modern dance principles, including the use of weight and momentum, create a training experience designed to challenge the dancer’s dynamic expression and increase their range of movement and quality. Ms. Backhaus places strong emphasis on the use of space and moving with fluidity and abandon. Her gymnastic background enables the seamless integration of floor work and weight-shifting between feet and hands, encouraging students to feel comfortable with inversions. Class combinations occasionally include selections from the Backhausdance repertory, partner work and focus on the facilitation of the expression of the dancer’s unique points of view.
Available classes include: Backhausdance Technique, Backhausdance Repertory, Contemporary Partnering, Improvisation, Choreography, Contact Improvisation, Contemporary Barre, and more.
Annual Summer Intensive
3-Week Training Opportunity
The Backhausdance Summer Dance Intensive provides high-caliber training programs for experienced aspiring artists and working professionals ages 13 to professional. With flexible 1-, 2-, or 3-week options, dancers ages 12–15, 16–18, and 19+ will find a contemporary approach to technique classes specifically tailored to their age group and creative experiences designed to challenge and inspire growth at every level.