#LunaDanceInstitute

[artistsintheclassroom10]

From Luna Dance Institute (February 2019)

[artistsintheclassroom8]

Running Into Luna @ NDEO

[upswingaerialdance]

Thank you Luna Dance Institute for this photo & the opportunity to share our work with you. #teenswhofly #eyeonupswingdance #lunadanceinstitute (at The David Brower Center)

[artistsintheclassroom8]

Positive Feedback From An SFUSD VAPA Administrator (5) (January 2017)

Re: Luna Dance Institute Profile #2

"Congratulations, Jakey.  This is a well deserved recognition. Thank you for being such a strong ambassador for quality arts education not only through your role as an itinerant dance teacher for the Visual & Performing Arts Department of the SFUSD, but also through your active and reflective practice on line and in the community. With much appreciation," - SFUSD VAPA Administrator (Jan. 2017)

*My gratitude for permission to post.

[artistsintheclassroom8]

Positive Feedback From Our Artistic Director, Emeritus | SFUSD (Jan. 2017)

Re: Luna Dance Institute Profile #2

"This is just wonderful, and so well deserved! I am, among so many others, so very proud of you and the brilliant work you continue to do as an artist who teaches in our schools! With greatest admiration," - Artistic Director, Emeritus | SFUSD (Jan. 2017)

*My gratitude for permission to post. 

[artistsintheclassroom8]

Positive Feedback From An SFUSD VAPA Administrator (2) (Jan. 2017)

Re: Luna Dance Institute Profile #2

"...Congrats on the article by Luna Dance Institute….. What wonderful recognition for all the great work you do. We are so lucky to have you in our VAPA family of teachers." - SFUSD VAPA Administrator (Jan. 2017)

*My gratitude for permission to post.

[artistsintheclassroom8]

Positive Feedback From An SFUSD VAPA Administrator (1) (Jan. 2017)

Re: Luna Dance Institute Profile #2

"You bad!!!!!!" – SFUSD VAPA Administrator (Jan. 2017)

*My gratitude for permission to post. 

[artistsintheclassroom8]

Positive Feedback From Luna Dance Institute (May 2017)

Re:

SFUSD Arts Festival 2017: John Muir & Argonne Performances

SFUSD Arts Festival 2017: Longfellow & Cesar Chavez Performances

SFUSD Arts Festival 2017: Our Experience In Photographs, Mosaic Style :)

SFUSD Arts Festival 2017: Some Of My Favorite Pieces

SFUSD Arts Festival 2017: Collected Letters by Liu Jianhua

SFUSD Arts Festival 2017: A Personal Reflection

"Thank you for doing such great work in SFUSD!" - Luna Dance Institute, Founder (May 2017)

*My gratitude for permission to post. 

[artistsintheclassroom8]

I ❤️ Luna

Truly a great organization. And celebrating 25 years! Congratulations. 

“Patricia was my coach after Luna’s 2011 SI. I was blown away! To be able to work with someone that knowledgeable & passionate, and see dance pedagogy and human development synthesized in such a solid way.” - Jakey Toor

Below, you can check out profiles from some of Luna’s Professional Community members.

Luna

Pebble In The Pond: Teachers Creating Change

[artistsintheclassroom8]

SFUSD Arts Festival 2017: Command Central

John Muir Elementary. April 2017. San Francisco, CA

Command central for all things festival related: The floor of an auditorium: Schedules, dance notes, media releases, field trip forms, to-do lists, lunch 🍝, and my classroom in a bag 😊 . I'm tired, and not as on-the-ball as I'd like to be. And simultaneously, very much looking forward to the festival! 😀 💃🏽  🎨  🎭  🎼🎥. ....

[artistsintheclassroom8]

Luna’s 25th Anniversary Gala!

The David Brower Center. March 2017. Berkeley, CA

Out of plant! And heading to @dance.luna Luna's 25th Anniversary Gala: 

Phone. Mirror. Reflection.

The second time in my life I've had a poem written for me - live! Thank you! 📝 👌🏽

A post shared by Jakey Toor (@jakeytoor) on Mar 19, 2017 at 12:32pm PDT

Go Patricia & Nancy!!

A post shared by Jakey Toor (@jakeytoor) on Mar 19, 2017 at 12:37pm PDT

So wonderful being in the company of like-minded educators / artists / activists / change-makers, who feel strongly about the importance of Dance & The Arts, in Public Ed., in Communities, across sectors, in Society....! 

When I get discouraged, or start to feel tired, gatherings like this remind me of why I do what I do..... 

And to think I almost lost my voice......and I'm not talking about Laryngitis! 

Almost. 

Almost....... 😉

Related Links: 

Luna Dance Institute Profile #2

Luna Dance Institute Profile #1

[upswingaerialdance]

This Saturday, the Teens are Flying at the #davidbrowercenter in celebration of #lunadanceinstitute and their Silver Jubilee. The David Brower Center provides a home for the environmental movement by advocating for the beauty, diversity and ecological integrity of Earth. Support dance and the environment...two big loves! (at The David Brower Center)

[artistsintheclassroom8]

Positive Feedback from Luna Dance Institute

via Facebook

•Luna Dance Institute Profile #2

Thank you Luna! 

[artistsintheclassroom8]

Hair. Nails. Spotlight. Watch.

Cinta Salon. February 2017. San Francisco, CA

Prioritizing self-care in the midsts of 7th-year-teacher-exhaustion, and getting ready for our upcoming conference! :) AND (perhaps most importantly), becoming cooler & more comfortable about my worlds mixing, both on and off line 💃🏽  💻  📿

[artistsintheclassroom8]

Was just profiled by Luna Dance Institute for their 25th Anniversary. Congratulations Luna! :) It’s an honor to be profiled again, and thank you for everything!

“Dance educators and artists are impacting the field of arts education in many ways. One such person, Jakey Toor, shares her efforts to bring creativity to children and adults through the art of dance and writing….”

Text from Luna’s Site: 

In our 25 years, Luna has worked with hundreds of teachers who we’re now proud to say are teaching all around the globe. From Emily Blossom to Jakey Toor, our past Professional Learning are collectively and cumulatively teaching tens of thousands of children. Starting in 2017 we will share their stories, one each week, about how they continue to positively impact the dance education field, the future, the world...

Text of Profile: 

Dance educators and artists are impacting the field of arts education in many ways. One such person, Jakey Toor, shares her efforts to bring creativity to children and adults through the art of dance and writing. Jakey teaches in San Francisco Unified School District as an arts educator in their Visual and Performing Arts Program (VAPA) and keeps an active dance blog. “My blog for me is a big creative outlet. I can construct whatever I want, points of inspiration, articles, dance notes.”

Jakey attended UCSD as a dance minor & theater major, taught writing classes to college freshmen and eventually got her teaching credential. Coinciding with her education she taught workshops to children in Mexico and at The Arc of San Diego, where she worked with children with Down’s Syndrome. Creative expression through performance has always been a big part of her life, and education is yet another way for her to share creative experiences with others.

Jakey first heard about Luna Dance Institute (LDI) in 2011. Attending LDI’s Summer Institute (SI) had been on her radar for a year, but in 2011 the time was ripe. “Patricia Reedy was my coach. When I did the SI 2011, I was completely overwhelmed and surprised. It was a program where dance pedagogy and child development came together in a solid way. I had never experienced that before. I have had such a passion for both fields-seeing both content areas coming together-dance concepts and Piaget; it felt like a dance teacher training that I never had. I really appreciated it because I think that way. It felt like the credential program that I should have been in.”

Jakey continues to be a life-long learner, evaluating her teaching, student learning and community building experiences. For two years she has been investigating if it is possible to manage a classroom without a negative consequence in a dance class setting. Can one teach in a way where there are no negative consequences for negative behavior, specifically for the itinerant teacher? Can dance teachers keep it so engaging that everyone wants to participate? The idea was born out of the reality that she is always working with other teachers’ students. Some teachers have very established cultures and itinerant teachers are coming in doing their own thing. Sometimes classroom and itinerant teachers can collaborate before hand and sometimes not. “I don’t do well with punitive discipline, so I keep it moving. It usually works pretty well.”

Jakey brings dance and creativity to 1500 children every year. She is most proud of working with whole schools and communities. It began as an experiment at one of her schools. She was interested in finding a way to authentically weave dance into the school community at Cesar Chavez. She ended up choreographing a whole dance for the school to perform on the black top. This became an annual tradition, that continues, and has expanded to other schools in San Francisco. Now Jakey brings them together for a multi-school community sharing. Jakey commented:

It is surprising that other students [from different schools] know the same dances as them, and they are standing next to each other doing the same choreography. At the performances, you hear a lot of positive verbal feedback, “That was amazing!” You will see siblings and parents dancing too. This tradition brings families in. People are generally very excited and you will see people practicing.  Some teachers started crying when they watched their students dancing-either all school or individual classes.  They get emotional. I would like to find a way to create some kind of pen pal program, where they [students] can write to each other before and then come and dance.

Another thing Jakey is very proud of are her yearly blogs that bring educators, parents, and administrators together virtually to celebrate student creativity. They also provide an opportunity for her to reflect as openly and honestly about what is happening in the field of dance education, and share her challenges and successes as an itinerant dance teacher.

“I always thought going into this work that any body can dance. Once in awhile there are a few students who don’t participate, but in general it is incredibly accessible, mobilizing and uplifting.”

To Learn more about Jakey Toor and the work she is doing in SFUSD visit her blog:

Artists In The Classroom: http://www.artistsintheclassroom.com/

Her blog for 2016-17: http://artistsintheclassroom8.tumblr.com

In our 25 years, Luna has worked with hundreds of teachers who we’re now proud to say are teaching all around the globe. From Emily Blossom to Jakey Toor, our past Professional Learning colleagues are collectively and cumulatively teaching tens of thousands of children. Starting in 2017 we will share their stories, one each week, about how they continue to positively impact the dance education field, the future, the world. To read the growing anthology, please click

here

--------------

And here’s my Luna Dance Institute Profile #1, from back in 2013! :) 

[artistsintheclassroom8]

Luna’s 25th Anniversary Profile Questions (2016 - 2017)

Honored to be being profiled by Luna again this year, for their 25th anniversary. Fitting, as I feel like I’m at quite the cross-roads. The last time I was profiled, I answered all the questions in writing. I’m feeling a little written out at the moment, so this year we did a phone interview. Woot Woot! :)

Back in 2013 / Old School!:

Luna Dance Institute Profile (2013)

Luna Profile: Q & A, Photos, Videos, and Links

...........

Below are some of the interview questions for this year:

How did you first come to Luna Dance Institute and when?

Where are you working and living now?

What are you doing, both professionally and creatively?

In your creative and/or teaching investigations, what are you curious about? Where does your inquiry lie?

What have you learned from Luna that you use today?

Share a story that gives us a peek into your teaching or art-making and what is important to you today. This could include reflections on your students, or what inspires you to continue teaching/choreographing, or interactions with your colleagues, or hopes for the future, etc.

Can you send us a few current photos of you dancing or teaching?

Thanks!