Pones: Laboratory of Movement
Pones: Laboratory of Movement promotes dance as a starting point to explore creativity, self-expression, and transforming ideas into action.
All Pones programs are currently available virtually (live and/or pre-recorded) and in-person.
DANCE 101: EXPLORE YOUR EXPRESSION
Curriculum Connections: Dance, Social Studies, STEM, English/Language Arts, Social and Emotional
Dance 101 is a workshop for everyone – from novice to advanced – and no special shoes are required. Dance 101 teaches the foundations of dance and can be integrated with any theme, curriculum, educational standards, and/or social emotional learning tie-in.
Ideal for kinesthetic learners, this workshop integrates concepts through physical movement, ensuring retention. Through arts integration, this workshop can be aligned and tailored to any grade level and content. Workshops offer students the opportunity to experience grade-appropriate curriculum in a fun, kinesthetic, and engaging way. Students can explore various styles of recreational, cultural, and social dance with this introductory course to the basic terms, steps, and concepts of each style. This workshop familiarizes students with key dance elements while igniting their imagination, and interacting through activities involving critical thinking and movement.
*Please let us know your integration preferences when ordering this program.
Dance 101 will help students:
- Absorb and retain curriculum content
- Communicate with others
- Gain critical thinking skills
- Participate collaborative activities
- Foster creative expression
- Build self-confidence and a positive body image
- Discover a fun way to stay healthy with physical fitness
Examples:
- Students could physically experience what it might feel like to become the water cycle and see what evaporation, condensation, precipitation, transpiration, infiltration, and collection might look like if it were a dance. Once students feel these movements in their own bodies, they may better understand how the water cycle works and remember this information for years to come.
- Students learn the tools of dance including Body, Energy, Space, and Time through interactive activities. Students could then use dance tools to abstract an 8-count and create collaborative choreography. This workshop can be a sample of different dance styles or focus on any style of dance, such as hip hop, ballet, salsa, or more.
Recommended Grades: K - 12th
Max #Participants per Session: 30
Length: 60 minutes
Cost per Session: $162
Max #Sessions per Day: 5
Dancing on the Globe
Curriculum Connections: Dance, Social and Emotional, Social Studies, STEM
Students will learn how to use the basic elements of dance (body, energy, space and time) to communicate an environment and culture through non-verbal movements. They will look at the world in a new way, via the lens of dance in cultures from around the globe through original and learned choreography.
NOTE: This workshop can be a survey of different dance styles. We recommend 1 cultural dance per session. Please let us know preference when ordering the program.
Dancing on the Globe will help students:
- Think globally and enhance cultural empathy
- Experience basic to advanced dance choreography
- Discover a fun way to stay healthy with physical fitness
- Foster creative expression
- Absorb and retain curriculum content
Examples:
- Students could physically experience what it might feel like to become the water cycle and see what evaporation, condensation, precipitation, transpiration, infiltration, and collection might look like if it were a dance. Once students feel these movements in their own bodies, they may better understand how the water cycle works and remember this information for years to come.
- Students learn the tools of dance including Body, Energy, Space, and Time through interactive activities. Students could then use dance tools to abstract an 8-count and create collaborative choreography. This workshop can be a sample of different dance styles or focus on any style of dance, such as hip hop, ballet, salsa, or more
Recommended Grades: 3rd - 12th
Max #Participants per Session: 30
Length: 60 minutes
Cost per Session: $162
Max #Sessions per Day: 5
Dancing Through the Ages
Curriculum Connections: Dance, Social Studies, Visual Arts
With Dancing through the Ages, students will explore various styles of recreational, cultural, and social dance from 1920s swing, 1950s sock hop, 1970s disco, and 1990s hip hop. Students will learn choreography and make connections from past dance styles to present dance trends.
NOTE: This workshop can be a survey of different dance styles or focus on any time period or ideas. We recommend 1 dance style per session. Please let us know preference when ordering the program.
Dancing through the Ages will help students:
- Learn about historical events in a new and fun way
- Think critically about different perspectives and develop empathy
- Communicate with others
- Build confidence through self-expression
- Discover a fun way to stay healthy
Recommended Grades: 3rd - 10th
Max #Participants per Session: 30
Length: 60 minutes
Cost per Session: $162
Max #Sessions per Day: 5
Hip Hop and Collaboration
Curriculum Connections: Dance, Social and Emotional
We use hip hop as a tool to discuss and discover how empowerment and collaboration are valuable parts of being a young person. How do these ideas go together? Hip hop thrives on collaboration and our focus will be on celebrating and uplifting one another.
Hip Hop and Collaboration will help students:
- Empower themselves and others
- Collaborate and communicate with others
- Creatively express themselves
- Build self confidence
- Discover a fun way to stay healthy
Example: Each week we will focus on building up our peers through dance. We will discuss supporting one another and its importance. Then we will start to build a dance about these compliments. Using the tools of dance and collaborative skills, we will create original choreography as a group.
Recommended Grades: 4th - 12th
Max #Participants per Session: 30
Length: 60 minutes
Cost per Session: $162
Max #Sessions per Day: 5
Moving with the Movies
Curriculum Connections: Dance, Social and Emotional, Social Studies, STEM
Students will learn dances from movies across the globe and through history. Dances include Bollywood dances from Indian movies, modern choreography from Disney musicals, and golden era dancing from old Hollywood. Students will think critically about new perspectives as they experience different dances from film.
NOTE: This workshop can be a survey of different dance styles or focus on any time period. We recommend 1 dance style per session. Please let us know your preference when ordering the program.
Moving with the Movies will help students:
- Think critically about different perspectives and encourage empathy
- Communicate with others
- Express themselves
- Build self confidence
- Discover a fun way to stay healthy
Recommended Grades: 3rd - 12th
Max #Participants per Session: 30
Length: 60 minutes
Cost per Session: $162
Max #Sessions per Day: 5
ARTS ADVOCACY (THREE DAY WORKSHOP)
Curriculum Connections: Dance, English/Language Arts, Social and Emotional, Theatre
Students will use the art of movement to advocate for changes they want to make in their lives and communities. Students are transformed into performance artists through a fun and exciting workshop led by professional dancers. They will engage their creative sides and think critically about issues and topics relevant to their own lives while creating, rehearsing, and performing an original piece all their own.
By the end of the program students will have learned:
- Basic theatre and dance concepts
- Effective communication
- Respectful collaboration
- How to stand up for what they believe in / become an activist
Students will perform their work as empowered individuals, and create something completely unique, meaningful, and fun.
Example: A class of eighth grade students voices a list of issues that are significant to them: acceptance, recycling, college, sports, and school uniforms. Collectively, they select ‘sports’ as the topic to focus on for their production. Specifically, they have noticed that extracurricular sports are too expensive to participate in once travel costs, uniforms, equipment, and fees have been calculated. They investigate ideas that will make sports more affordable so that everyone who wants to participate is able to do so. In small groups they utilize provided composition worksheets to guide their examination of how to create positive change in sports. The students are challenged to funnel their discussion into action by creating a piece that uses multiple art forms – theatre, dance, spoken word, visual arts – to express their ideas. Students perform their original work for their peers at the end of the workshop.
Recommended Grades: 6th - 12th
Max. #Participants per Session: 30
Length: 60 minutes each session; minimum 3 days
Cost per Session: $162
Max #Sessions per Day: 5
See what people are saying about Pones!
“Pones is professional, fun, engaging, and positive with every student interaction. Students are inspired to try something new, and proud once they accomplish it. I have recommended Pones to many of my friends in education within the district and also other districts. It is always a pleasure, and my students love learning with Pones.”
“Working with Pones is always a great experience, both for us as organizers as well as for the attendees who join our events. The work you're doing is powerful, empowering, and accessible. And your team is professional, accessible, and easy to work with. Can't say enough good things about y'all!”
“We had so much fun, everyone wanted to keep dancing even after class was over. "One more time! One more time!" The students begged to keep dancing. What a great problem to have! Our students then went into the hallway to film the dances we just learned along with some other tricks and flips. I love seeing how inspired our new students are just from one class!”