Since schools in NYC closed about 2 months ago, DMF Youth sprung into action to move all of our programming online. When we made this shift, we decided to make some of our learning tools available to the public for free. 

YouTube Mini Lessons

Our team of teaching artists is posting bi-weekly mini lessons on YouTube. Each mini lesson consists of a warm up, dance step intro, a choreography combo, and a mindfulness activity referred to as “the awesome human challenge.” These videos are designed to offer DMF Youth sessions to our students at home, and are a great resource for any parent looking to keep their kids active and engaged while schools remain closed. With activities that exercise the body and the mind, DMF Youth mini lessons squeeze a whole lot of wellness into a short 20 minutes.

You can keep up with our mini lessons by subscribing to our YouTube channel!

Zoom & Online Learning

DMF Youth is also using Zoom to continue programming for our students. Teaching artists host group conversations for students in a “face-to-face” chat several times a week. In the era of social distancing, we know how important it is for kids to continue to interact with each other, even from home. DMF Youth also hosts live Zoom dance classes every week so students can dance along with their teacher and classmates in real time. 

Teaching artists have also developed written resources that will be accessible to families online. These resources explain concepts central to DMF Youth’s curriculum, like mindfulness, growth mindset, and positive affirmations. They provide suggestions for how to practice these ideas with kids and resources for more information. 

Online learning isn’t the only support we’re offering to our students – we are putting together care packages to send home to nearly 150 students, etc  Each package will contain a DMF Youth original activity book and lots of art supplies to keep them busy! – more detail here about activity journals, designed to help kids build resilience and get through this time.

Even though we miss dancing and learning with all of our students in person, we are so glad that we can connect with them online! Keep scrolling to see some images from Zoom hangs.

Student Feedback

Last week, DMF Youth Executive Director Lindi Duesenberg caught up with one of our fourth grade students, Jonathan, to talk about what he thinks about DMF Youth online programs. One of Jonathan’s favorite things about DMF Youth is that it taught him to have a “mindful body” which he said helps him to “relax and block out all the other sounds in your or outside, or anywhere.” You can catch the whole interview below!