Programs Offered
Arts Integration Program
Our in-school program provides classes that integrate movement into core curriculum subjects with customized lessons that align with what students are learning in their classrooms. Classes are taught through a creative movement lens to reinforce what is being taught in the classroom as an additional way for students to retain information. By incorporating movement into the core curriculum we hope to reach every kind of learner while enhancing creative problem solving and communication skills.
Student Experience: After a semester of learning about early American colonization up to the Revolutionary War through movement, one fifth grader described it as being able to really understand what they were learning about because they would read and discuss the events in their classroom and then jump into the stories and experience them in a different way in movement class.
After School Dance Classes
Our after-school program was formed with the desire to provide a place where students with and without disabilities can create, collaborate and share in the joy of movement. Our students range in a variety of ages and ability levels and are paired up with our patient and energetic volunteers, most of which come to us from nearby high schools. Classes are donation based with no set tuition for our participants and together we explore multiple dance genres and musical instruments, create movement and perform for our friends, family and community. Through dance, the students and volunteers create a community that promotes creativity, inclusion and kindness.
Instructor
Courtney Kalaher (MA, BA) teaches Communication Through Movement in the Center on Disability and Development at Texas A&M University where she uses creative movement to navigate multiple aspects of nonverbal communication in various social and professional settings for postsecondary students with disabilities. Prior to working at TAMU she completed her MA at NYU Steinhardt in Dance Education and has taught and written curriculum in various dance programs for students PreK-12 in Texas, New York, Uganda and Washington DC. Courtney is passionate about using dance as a means to facilitate personal growth and a sense of community for students with a desire to dance OUT LOUD!
Board of Directors
Courtney Kalaher
Out Loud Dance Founder, Executive Director
Laura Greenway
Secretary
Meagan Orsag, PhD
Texas A&M University