News and Events Press Room Press Releases Young Audiences Awarded Funding for Second Year MetLife Dance for Life Program

September 27, 2005 (Atlanta) – MetLife Foundation is partnering for a second year with Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center, a non-profit champion for arts in public schools, to implement the MetLife Dance for Life initiative. In year two of this three-year national program, Dance for Life has been designed to increase knowledge of dance for children from kindergarten through grade 12. Beyond learning the knowledge of dance skills, the participants reap discipline and the physical benefits of movement in dance. The MetLife Dance for Life programs, creating multicultural dance residencies and learning workshops, are being implemented through 16 Young Audiences chapters and affiliates in partnership with public schools across the United States.

Young Audiences is the largest sponsor of artists in American public schools with a wide range of educational programs, connecting over 5,000 artists with schools. In its first year, the Dance for Life program reached over 23,000 students in 45 schools through more than 1,655 residency programs. In 2005-06, the MetLife Dance for Life program will take place in YA chapters located in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas and Virginia.

“Thanks to MetLife Foundation’s vision and commitment to arts-in-education, Dance for Life artists and classroom teachers are working in depth with these students so they experience the pure joy and physicality of dance,” said Richard Bell, Executive Director of National Young Audiences.

While Dance for Life is a national effort, the administration of individual grants is the responsibility of local Young Audiences chapters. Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center (YAWAC) is overseeing the Dance for Life program in Atlanta.
The program focuses on the important role dance can play in physical education (P.E.), and involves several components, including school-wide opening performances by YAWAC artists, professional development workshops with classroom and P.E. teachers, and three culturally unique dance residencies lasting 10 weeks each.

One hundred sixth, seventh and eighth grade students at Renfroe Middle School will begin their Dance for Life experience this Thursday with an opening performance by modern dancers Matt and Emily Kent. The performance follows an intensive workshop with the school’s classroom and P.E. teachers about the use of dance as an instrument for arts-integrated instruction.

The workshop, led by nationally known choreographer and dance educator Celeste Miller and choreographer and teaching artist Nicole Livieratos, is designed teach classroom and P.E. teachers how to incorporate physical movement to communicate and reinforce subject content as well as motivate and engage students with different learning styles. Teachers from Glennwood Academy, the second Dance for Life school, will also participate in this professional development workshop.

The residency component of the program at Renfroe will begin October 3, 2005. Emily Kent will conduct the residencies during the physical fitness period for each grade over the following 10 weeks, focusing on strength and flexibility. Dance students from Agnes Scott College will work alongside Kent in the classroom to emphasize the value of advanced dance study and the potential for careers in dance or dance education. At the end of the residency, participating students will perform for each other as well as other students, parents, teachers, administrators and community representatives at a culminating event.

The Dance for Life program at Glennwood Academy will follow the model used at Renfroe, and will include an opening performance, two 10 week residencies, and culminating event. The entire fourth and fifth grades at Glennwood will participate in the Dance for Life program this year. Two Young Audiences teaching artists will work with the students from Glennwood. More information about the Dance for Life program at Glennwood Academy will be forthcoming in the next few weeks.

About MetLife Foundation

MetLife Foundation was established by MetLife to carry on the company’s longstanding tradition of corporate contributions and community involvement. Recognizing the vital role the arts play in building communities and educating young people, MetLife Foundation contributes to arts and cultural organizations across the United States with an emphasis on increasing opportunities for young people, reaching broader audiences through inclusive programming, and making arts more accessible for all people. Believing that education can be greatly enhanced through arts programs, MetLife Foundation places great importance on the intrinsic value of the arts to enhance life, broaden young people's horizons, and encourage curiosity, creativity and learning. Each year over 1.5 million children from across the country participate in arts programs funded by the Foundation. For more information about MetLife Foundation and its programs, visit its web site www.metlife.org.

About Young Audiences

Since its inception in 1983, Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center (YAWAC) has sought to improve the life and education of every child through the arts. As one of 32 local affiliates of the national Young Audiences organization and the newest division of the Woodruff Arts Center, YAWAC is Georgia’s leading provider of in-school educational arts programming, reaching approximately one million children during the 2004-2005 school year alone. YAWAC supports excellence in education by providing curriculum-based, in-school educational arts experiences presented by a roster of more than 75 professional teaching artists in the disciplines of music, dance, visual art and theatre. YAWAC programs, available as assembly performances, workshops and residencies, are developmentally appropriate for children in pre-kindergarten through 12^th grade and provide authentic connections to the Georgia curriculum.