Dance Theatre Etcetera's arts
education programs provide rigorous instruction in performing arts and digital media. They emphasize collaboration,
critical thinking and engagement.
Employing an arsenal of techniques from Augusto Boal's Theatre of the
Oppressed to documentary filmmaking, youth are encouraged to challenge
themselves and their peers to become active participants in their
schools, their communities and in determining the direction of their
own lives as they develop their skills as socially engaged artists.
DTE staff & teaching artists work closely with schools on
long-term partnerships. We believe in the "co-intentional" classroom-
where the goals of teachers, students, teaching artists, and
administration are all aligned to achieve success through teaching and learning in the arts.
DTE offers several programs: Performing Arts in Action (including Spoken Word Poetry, Theater, and Dance), Digital Arts in Action (including Documentary Film-making, Radio/Audio Production, and mixed digital media), and Theatre for Language Learners (using applied theatre and playwrighting to improve reading, writing and speaking skills for English Language Learners).
Martha is an award winning arts educator (Brooklyn Arts Exchange
BAXten Award 2002, NYC Education Chancellor Rudolph Crew's Community
Caring Award 1999).
Currently, she teaches classes at New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study and at the Tisch School of the Arts Drama Department. She recently taught Equal Exchange: Arts-Based Collaborations with Immigrant Youth at Gallatin. She worked as a teaching artist for the Lincoln Center Institute from 1986-1997 and has designed and implemented arts education programs for the Brooklyn Arts Exchange, The Kitchen and Dancing in the Streets in numerous NYC public schools. In 2006-2008, Martha was hired as a consultant by the Third Millennium Foundation to design and implement the dance for Tolerance Project, which showcased dance programs in Brazil, Colombia and Brooklyn that were successfully using dance based pedagogy as a form of youth development and conflict resolution in marginalized communities.
"Film The Vote" was made by students in Dance Theatre Etcetera's media program at South Brooklyn Community High School. Under the guidance of teaching artist Robert Martin and classroom teacher Patrick McGillicuddy (now the Principal of East Brooklyn Community High School), the students spent thirteen weeks making this film about the electoral process and their role as young voters in the upcoming 2008 presidential election.
DTE teaching artists are powerful artists and educators with abiding commitments to creating positive change in the communities they live and work in. A diverse group representing some of the country's most accomplished progressive poets, filmmakers, theater artists, and dancers, what unites DTE teaching artists is their ability to provide rigorous arts instruction that engages and empowers young people.
Dance Theatre Etcetera's arts
education programs provide rigorous instruction in performing arts and digital media. They emphasize collaboration,
critical thinking and engagement.
