Need for Programming During Quarantine Fuels DREAM Project@Home

July 1, 2020 – New York, NY – National Dance Institute (NDI) today announced new national online programming for children with disabilities. The program, part of NDI’s renowned DREAM Project, is the first of its kind to offer a fully inclusive format that connects dancers of all abilities with one another from their homes. The DREAM (Dancers Realize Excellence through Arts and Movement) Project@Home will include Zoom classes, classes on NDI’s platform ndiLIVE! and summer workshops.

DREAM Project@Home is an extension of DREAM classes and workshops traditionally offered in person at the NDI Center. In this unique program, children with disabilities and a group of age-matched, non-disabled peers dance in partnership, with the goals of maximizing participation and challenging every dancer to achieve their best through teamwork, creativity, empathy, and discovery. The program culminates in a performance celebrating every student’s talents and achievements.

DREAM was co-created by NDI Associate Artistic Director Kay Gayner and Board Certified Pediatric Physical Therapist Agnes McConlogue Ferro. Ms. Ferro, a practicing clinician, is also a Clinical Associate Professor at Stony Brook University. In addition to instruction by Ms. Gayner and Ms. McConlogue Ferro, three NDI teaching artists who have expertise working with children with disabilities run the classes. The celebrated choreographer, writer and principal dancer Jerron Herman is a regular guest teaching artist with NDI DREAM Project. Mr. Herman brings his professional experience as a disabled dancer and has been a true inspiration and role model to children participating in DREAM. NDI teaching artists Elizabeth Sellner and Michelle Phillips have professional experience in dance and theatre arts and bring a spirit of joy and collaboration to the DREAM program.

“There is such a critical need for a program to help children with disabilities connect with others in real time and participate in their own unique ways,” said Agnes McConlogue Ferro, Board Certified Physical Therapist.

McConlogue Ferro commented, “The sense of community and its importance in times like this is as important as education to the children and their caregivers. Recent research investigating the impact of the NDI DREAM Project on all child participants and their families shows that children with and without developmental diagnoses truly benefit from a program such as DREAM.”

According to Kay Gayner, NDI Associate Artistic Director, “NDI has been developing curriculum and piloting weekly Zoom classes since April – for children with and without developmental disabilities – as DREAM is of equal importance to both. Because of the success of the virtual program, and in response to a recognized need among children with disabilities and their families during the pandemic, we have launched this new fully inclusive live format to be able to reach more children.”

NDI DREAM Project@Home Allows All Children Regardless of Ability to Dance at Home

Students of all abilities can participate free of charge in DREAM Project@Home through ndiLIVE! DREAM classes:

DREAM Project@Home ndiLIVE! Classes: Weekly classes designed for children with and without disabilities (and their families and caregivers) will be available through NDI’s participatory online platform ndiLIVE! The series of half-hour classes will introduce participants to the joy of dance, teach choreography and strategies for adapting movement to different bodies, and end with a mini performance and an NDI-style Goodbye. The classes are provided by NDI teaching Artists, Board Certified Pediatric Physical Therapist and children from the NDI DREAM community with and without disabilities. Families and children (ages 6 and beyond) with a wide variety of abilities are encouraged to participate.

Children already enrolled in NDI DREAM can participate in two additional online options:

DREAM Project@Home Zoom Classes: Weekly and ongoing classes specifically for children from the NDI DREAM community. Utilizing the web-based video conference platform Zoom, dancers of all abilities eagerly connect with one another, support one another and learn together – from their own homes, from upstate New York to the east on Long Island, with the majority from Manhattan. Children are engaged in yoga warm-ups, learning new dances, collaborating in small groups and performing with a level of creativity and support for one another that simply astounds. There will be a culminating video performance celebrating their accomplishments since early April.

DREAM Project@Home Summer Workshops: NDI will be holding an exciting virtual summer program, currently in development. The focus, including live and pre-recorded programming, will promote participation in music, dance, collaboration and performance.   Dates and format will be developed in close conversation with current DREAM participants and their families.

About NDI DREAM Project

The NDI DREAM Project is a unique program and teaching methodology based on the NDI Method designed to serve children with disabilities. Co-developed by NDI Associate Artistic Director Kay Gayner and Board Certified Pediatric Physical Therapist Agnes McConlogue Ferro, the DREAM Project serves children of all abilities, inclusive of a full range of intellectual, emotional and physical ability. This includes children who are non-verbal and visually and/or physically impaired; many of whom are afforded the use of power wheelchair mobility, ventilators, augmentative communications and assistive devices for meaningful participation alongside peers. Partnerships are the focus of the DREAM Project with peer to peer collaboration, support and celebration of each dancer’s unique abilities.

About National Dance Institute (NDI)

National Dance Institute was founded in 1976 by New York City Ballet principal dancer Jacques d’Amboise and leads the field of arts education with a model program that is replicated worldwide. Under the Artistic Direction of Ellen Weinstein, NDI uses dance and music to instill in students a love of the arts, a passion for learning, and a desire to strive for their personal best. At the root of NDI’s methodology, the NDI Method, is the belief that the arts have a unique power to engage all children—regardless of background, ability or socio-economic status—and motivate them toward excellence. In addition to programming in New York City, NDI has seeded 13 affiliate programs throughout the US and in Shanghai, China and Beirut, Lebanon. In 2011, NDI opened the doors to the National Dance Institute Center for Learning & the Arts in Harlem, allowing the organization to further its mission and expand its reach. Since its founding, NDI has impacted the lives of over two million children. No child pays to participate in NDI’s core programs thanks to the generosity of public and private donations.

Through NDI’s ndiLIVE! platform of free online classes, NDI teaching artists lead children in signature NDI choreography, a variety of high-energy dance classes for all ability levels, plus a weekly music class. Join us from your homes and view ndiLIVE! free on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. All videos are available on NDI’s social platforms after they have aired.

For more information, visit NDI online at NationalDance.org, on Twitter @NationalDance, Facebook and Instagram @NationalDanceInstitute; and YouTube and LinkedIn @NationalDanceInstitute.