NDI Center Classes Fall schedule:
It’s back-to-school time! Give your child the opportunity to experience the joy, rigor, and excellence of NDI’s award-winning programs. All classes have live music! Our offerings include:
Arts Encounter, Saturdays, 9/21–12/14
(K-1st grades) 9:00 am–10:00 am REGISTER
(K-1st grades) 10:15 am–11:15 am REGISTER
NDI Dance, Thursdays, 9/19–12/19
(2nd–3rd grades) 4:15 pm–5:15 pm REGISTER
(4th–6th grades) 4:15 pm–5:15 pm REGISTER
(4th–6th grades) 5:15 pm–6:15 pm REGISTER
Ballet , Tuesdays, 9/17–12/17
(5th–8th grades) 4:15 pm–5:15 pm REGISTER
Modern Dance, Tuesdays, 9/17–12/17
(5th–8th grades) 5:15 pm–6:15 pm REGISTER
Ballet & Modern Combo Package: REGISTER
World Percussion, Thursdays, 9/19–12/19
(4th–6th grades) 5:15 pm–6:15 pm REGISTER
Need-based scholarships are available for all NDI Center classes through an application process. For more information or to apply for a scholarship, contact Christina Aguirre or call (212) 226-0083.
National Dance Institute Extends Its Program at PS92Q to 28 Weeks, After a Successful 10-Week Residency
Fourth graders at PS 92Q have something to jump about: For the first time, their Corona, Queens elementary school will partner with National Dance Institute for a full school year of dancing and singing.
The growth comes on the heels of a successful 10-week winter residency for fifth graders in 2019, when NDI’s curricular theme, “Voices of Change,” dovetailed with a unit of study: “Advocating for Equal Rights.” The culminating sold-out performance, said Jessica Rosinsky, the school’s Magnet Resource Specialist, made the school come alive: “Our school and community couldn’t stop talking about it.”
The arts are integral at PS 92Q, where principal Pasquale Baratta has led the school’s transition to The Harry T. Stewart, Sr. Magnet School for Engineering, Architecture, and the Arts, as part of a three-year Federal grant program. Baratta’s architecture background contributed to the school’s emphasis on teaching students to see real-world problems as an opportunity for innovation. While existing music and visual arts classes spark creativity, Rosinsky knew a dance component could allow the fifth graders to learn through movement.
“Most of the students had not taken a dance class before,” said NDI’s Jennifer Aks-Neuman, who with teaching assistant Karen More and music teacher Micha Gilad comprised the NDI team. While the fifth graders knew of famous civil rights leaders, they were less familiar with youth activism. “They loved creating awareness around children having a voice,” Aks-Neuman said. Her goal was making the “Voices of Change” theme as deeply felt in 10 weeks as it would be in a full school year. To do that, she added elements that are rarely used in short residencies, including a choral song. She sped up teaching the song “We are the World” by assigning the chorus to the children, then finding adult singers — assistant principal Esther Reyes, math coach Eileen Sanders and her husband Vince, and first-grade bilingual teacher Alvaro Guerrero — for the verses.
In the end, the fifth graders stunned the audience, including some of their former teachers (of lower grades). Assistant principal John Gentile cited two examples of children who struggled in the classroom and benefitted from NDI. “One was quiet and withdrawn, the other was boisterous and always being told to calm down,” said Gentile. “Once the residency started, we began to see her personality come out. The teacher began to notice the student become more social.” The louder student, he said, focused his energy. “He was able to be his jovial self the whole time during the classes, and he was the star of the show,” said Gentile.
Special-education teacher Adam Kalan saw a change in one student who was stricken with stage fright during auditorium rehearsals. “We were able to get him to participate toward the back of the stage. Yet the great part of NDI’s philosophy is that there is no back of the stage. The constant movement of the instructors made every student feel like they were in the front row.”
When administrators were deciding on NDI’s return, Rosinsky said she emphasized NDI’s “professionalism and detailed vision.”
“It all comes together with teaching artists who captivated everybody in the building,” said Rosinsky. For Kalan, the proof was in his student who once feared the stage: “His smile is the best reminder of how positive an impact we can have on a child’s life.”
Kay Gayner and Agnes McConlogue Ferro, co-creators of NDI’s DREAM Project, were featured in NY1’s “New Yorker of the Week” segment on TV! Watch Kay and Agnes choreograph inclusivity, exploration, and joy in the segment. SEE IT HERE>>
How NDI Training and A Teacher’s Inspiration Led One Alum to a Broadway Career
By Mary Collins
When National Dance Institute alumni Dharon Jones auditioned for the upcoming Broadway production of “West Side Story,” he was initially in shock. “We learned the combination, and I was blown away,” he said. “I was like, ‘This is not the ‘West Side Story’ I am used to.'” But Dharon drew from his NDI training on the SWAT and Celebration teams, where new choreography came in fast: “We would have to think about counting, directions, level changes, and energy. When you’re a kid, you’re just doing these moves, and you don’t realize it had an effect on your brain.”
With that foundation, he pursued a now sky-rocketing dance career: The 21-year-old will make his Broadway debut as Action in “West Side Story” this season.
While the NDI Method developed his skills, inspiration came from his teacher, Mary Kennedy, especially with her take on Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” music video and its slick choreography. “She would put on the white suit, the hat and do all the moves. She was killing it!” he said. “Michael Jackson was one of my favorite artists. Mary’s version made me want to dance more.”
Though Dharon says he was a shy, athletic kid, Kennedy saw his ability while teaching at Brooklyn’s P.S. 235. “From day one, he was fully in it to win it,” said Kennedy, who has been with NDI since 2000.
Dharon later won a scholarship to Triple Arts, the musical theater workshop founded by Terrence Mann and Charlotte d’Amboise (daughter of NDI founder Jacques d’Amboise). He then went to LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and the Performing Arts, followed by Ithaca College. He credits NDI with opening his eyes and his world. At 12, Dharon performed with NDI at the White House during a 2010 event led by First Lady Michelle Obama. At age 13, he performed at New York City Center.
For NDI, creating such opportunities is a part of the mission established by founder Jacques d’Amboise: Show children what excellence looks like, and they will strive to achieve it in their endeavors.
This fall, Dharon will be at the red-hot center of Broadway excellence. The new “West Side Story” is led by two groundbreaking voices in the performing arts: director Ivo van Hove and choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. “The choreography is not theatrical,” said Dharon. “I think it’s going to be very real and reflective of the society we are experiencing today.”
With his career opening up, Dharon still feels the impact of NDI so deeply that he shared a “thank you” to wrap up our interview, in the NDI tradition of ending shows with gratitude: “Thank you NDI for giving me a foundation which I can build on, and for the fact that I can keep progressing, as well as keep coming back and showing my love and support.”
2019 |
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| Oct 26 | NDI Celebration Team Performance | |
| 2:00pm at Symphony Space | ||
| Nov 4 | Person Place Thing | |
| 7pm Podcast at the NDI Center | ||
| Nov 18 | Celebrate Jacques’ 85th | |
| 6:30pm at the NDI Center | ||
2020 |
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| Feb 3 | Jacques’ Art Nest XX | |
| 6:30pm at the NDI Center | ||
| Mar 8 | NDI Celebration Team Performance | |
| 4pm at NJPAC | ||
| Apr 20 | NDI’s 44th Annual Gala 6:00pm at Ziegfeld Ballroom |
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| May 18 | Jacques’ Art Nest XXI | |
| 6:30pm at the NDI Center |
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