Dance to Success: Streaming Mindful Movement into the Elementary Classroom

Dance to Success is an initiative based at Skidmore College working to bring high-quality dance and movement into the everyday routine of elementary classrooms. Specifically focusing on public schools with low socioeconomic status and/or rural elementary schools, Dance to Success provides web-based access to short and accessible dance videos designed to help enhance the mind-body connection in children. Videos are choreographed by dance faculty in collaboration with undergraduate dance students and are filmed at various locations on the Skidmore campus, introducing students to the people and places associated with college life. This interactive webinar will present a descriptive analysis of Dance to Success and subsequent research outcomes from the initiative. Participants will have an opportunity to engage in the dance videos during the presentation and will be given access to the Dance to Success program following the event! Sarah DiPasquale is an Assistant Professor and Associate Chair of Dance at Skidmore College. She earned her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Sage Graduate School and a B.S. in Health and Exercise Science from Syracuse University. Sarah’s performance career ended early due to injury which continues to inform the direction of her research and teaching. Her scholarship focuses on the effects of dance training on individuals with disabilities and at-risk youth alongside the investigation of injury prevention and management in collegiate dancers. Sarah was named Skidmore’s 2019 Periclean Faculty Leader for her work bringing civic engagement into the academic classroom. In 2019 she also served as a New York State Education Department reviewer for the new Content Specialty Exam in Dance. Sarah’s work has been published in the Journal of Dance Education, Journal of Dance Medicine and Science (forthcoming), Performance Enhancement & Health, Arts & Health, Medical Problems of the Performing Artist, Sports, and The International Journal of Exercise Science.