City Schools get an A in Dancing!

The 2009-2010 school year started with a lesson in dance, as SEADAC once again partnered with the Dothan City School System in the D.A.N.C.E. program.

Delivering Art Now in Children’s Education is an outreach program servicing 4th graders in Dothan City Schools. SEADAC sends Company Dancers and Professional Guest Artists to schools to educate the children about dance through lecture demonstrations; it’s fun and educational! Later the kids and their teachers attend SEADAC performances where they see the skills they were shown at work. Through the D.A.N.C.E. program we hope to inspire youths to work hard and reach for their dreams!

Scholarships Awarded

SOUTHEAST ALABAMA DANCE COMPANY is proud to have awarded 30 scholarships to underserved children in our community. These recipients will attend SEADAC's Rise Up! Praise Dance Camp, June 3 - 6, 2009. These young students will receive training from professional instructors and have the opportunity to feel the joy dancing freely brings! SEADAC continues to be able to provide outreach services like this, due to the generous support of our Patrons, Sponsors and the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, A Federal Agency.

In coordination with the Dothan City School System, both the Artistic Director and Assistant Artistic Director for SEADAC visit all 4th grade classes to speak about the upcoming performances on schedule for the year.

The students are introduced to the many elements that it takes to put together these productions such as music, costumes, and the time the dancers have to prepare for each production. Students also have the opportunity to learn some of the choreography from the upcoming shows.

The SEADAC staff builds on this outreach by providing dance classes free of charge for under-served members of the community once a week at the Cultural Arts Center to expand the understanding of and exposure to the art of dance. Without the D.A.N.C.E. program, most of these students may never have the opportunity to be exposed to the arts.

SEADAC presents performances and lecture demonstrations to schools and community groups. Currently, SEADAC is collaborating with the Dothan City School system to provide Delivering Art Now in Children's Education (D.A.N.C.E.), an outreach program for all 4th grade classes. Approximately three thousand students each year benefit from our "hands on" classroom education and by their attendance at our specially created school performances at the Dothan Civic Center. Scholarship opportunities and on-going dance classes at the Dothan Cultural Arts Center are also provided to underserved children in the community and for promising dancers in financial need. In addition, SEADAC annually awards over $20,000 in scholarships to dancers that are in financial need and to outstanding company dancers to further their dance education.

Vaughn Blumberg Center

SEADAC is always excited to have the opportunity to reach out to the community and educate those who do not readily have access to the arts. SEADAC volunteers by teaching dance classes to children and adults with disabilities from Dothan's Vaughn Blumberg Center. Vaughn Blumberg center Wells, Artistic Director of SEADAC, developed the S.T.A.R.S. program (Stepping Through Air Reaching Success) in 1996 to reach out and enrich the souls of people interested in dance. Ashlie has been volunteering her time to teach dance to people with disabilities at The Vaughn Blumberg center for 10 years through the Southeast Alabama Dance Company's outreach scholarship programs. It is a natural collaboration because our missions are both to help those interested in the arts achieve their maximum potential. Mrs. Wells states, "I love giving back the gift of dance that God has given me. The Vaughn Blumberg adults that I have had the privilege to work with are very special to me because they truly dance from the heart and have no inhibitions!"