Hubbard Street Announces Scholarship Program for Incoming First Graders at Chicago Public Schools.

Hubbard Street Artistic Director Glenn Edgerton and Kathryn Humphreys, the company's Director of Youth, Education, and Community Programs, are proud to announce HS First Steps, a new program that offers full scholarships to Hubbard Street's Youth Dance Program to incoming first graders at Chicago Public Schools.

HS First Steps provides weekly ballet class to selected students, with opportunity for further study upon successful completion of program. Hubbard Street created the First Steps program to make the company, school, and art of dance, accessible to students and families throughout Chicago. This program works to provide need-based scholarships for young students with talent and drive. Scholarships focus on students from ages 6 to 8 - a pivotal stage in which to begin dance training.

"We are excited to add the HS First Steps scholarships to our roster of education and community programs, including school residencies, free performance tickets, and tuition assistance programs. Hubbard Street is committed to making quality dance education accessible to all students who wish to study, regardless of income, and this program formalizes our commitment to the community" says Kathryn Humphreys, Director of Youth, Education, and Community Programs.

Auditions for HS First Steps will be held from 1-3pm on August 26, 2017 at the Hubbard Street Dance Center located at 1147 West Jackson Blvd in Chicago's West Loop. The audition will consist of a 30-minute class taught by a Youth Dance Program faculty member. Parents are welcome to attend an "Introduction to Hubbard Street's Youth Program" information session during their child's class time. In order to be considered for HS First Steps, students must be eligible for the federal Free and Reduced Lunch program and attend a Chicago Public School. Pre-registration is required. Registration forms are available online at www.hubbardstreetdance.com/FirstSteps.

Hubbard Street is also proud to announce its Movement As Partnership (MAP) schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Partner schools include Mario Saucedo Scholastic Academy, Sidney Sawyer Elementary School, The Nettlehorst School, Harold Washington Elementary School, and Nathan S. Davis School. Now in its tenth year, MAP is Hubbard Street's signature education initiative. This expansive partnership program works with teachers and students in grades 3-5 and offers a 14-week residency supported by field trips to performances with the company and intensive professional development for teachers and administrators to bring dance into the classroom.

Ravenswood Academy also joins Hubbard Street as a new Movement Lab partner. The Movement Lab is a new, free one-year program offered to teams of Chicago Public School teachers. The Movement Lab brings innovative contemporary dance curriculum to school communities and impacts the lives of students, all while reinvigorating classroom teaching practices. This program is designed to be an immersive, experiential professional development experience.

The MAP and Movement Lab Programs are Hubbard Street's free, in-school dance residency program that transforms classrooms into living laboratories of movement and learning. Schools are spaces of transformation and dance is the language of transformation. Hubbard Street's Education Programs combine the creative mission of our performing company with our unique expertise in education. We bring students and schools into the world of dance by actively engaging them in creation, performance, and reflection. Classrooms become dynamic spaces of creative self-expression and empowered learning.

These programs utilize the choreographic process to empower students as learners across disciplines and skills, from strengthening basic proficiencies to deepening abstract thinking. Highly trained professional teaching artists partner with schools and educators to plan and teach integrated, meaningful, and challenging curriculum. We work with diverse communities throughout the Chicagoland area and across the nation, with the core of our work contained in the Chicago Public Schools.

About Hubbard Street

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's core purpose is to bring artists, art and audiences together to enrich, engage, educate, transform and change lives through the experience of dance. Celebrating Season 40 in 2017-18, under the artistic leadership of Glenn Edgerton, Hubbard Street continues to innovate, supporting ascendant creative talent while presenting repertory by internationally recognized living artists. Hubbard Street has grown through the establishment of multiple platforms alongside the Lou Conte Dance Studio - now in its fifth decade of providing a wide range of public classes and pre-professional training - while extensive Youth, Education, Community, Adaptive Dance and Family Programs keep the organization deeply connected to its hometown. Visit hubbardstreetdance.com for artist profiles, touring schedules, and much more.

To post a comment, you must register and login.