ANIMATE~ARTICULATE ILLUSTRATE

ACTUATE & DANCE

for

K-3rd Grade  

Is an experiential creative movement program for children 

K through 3rd Grade that infuses, exercises, physical activities, and children’s games to creatively explore the world of dance. The incorporation of music and props help acquaint young students to various aspects of movement through group participati

ACTUATE & DANCE

for

K-3rd Grade  

Is an experiential creative movement program for children 

K through 3rd Grade that infuses, exercises, physical activities, and children’s games to creatively explore the world of dance. The incorporation of music and props help acquaint young students to various aspects of movement through group participation. 

Students explore and develop coordination, flexibility, rhythm, strength, endurance, overall motor skills, along with increased body awareness. Visual, auditory, tactile and kinesthetic sensory apprehension is broadened. Learning new vocabulary, as well as concepts of line, shape, form and texture assist and inform instruction. 

Sharing physical space and moving independently, or as a group, children begin to recognize and define their uniqueness. Through these personal discoveries students see and acknowledge uniqueness, individuality and creativity of 

fellow classmates. 

Participation in creative movement and dance develops improved sociability. One on one and group interactions expand imagination. Students learn collaborative and leadership skills that enhance 

critical thinking.

This non-competitive environment provides movement experiences that support and strengthen learning in multiple areas. 

Re-channeling youthful energy and exuberance in holistic ways through dance boosts  concentration, confidence, and pride 

in one’s abilities. 

The program aids in overall scholastic engagement 

and excellence.

Students are motivated, encouraged and nurtured in physically fun ways to creatively express themselves. Stimulate young minds and foster creativity through movement and dance with 

ACTUATE & DANCE

for

K-3rd Grade

&

ACTUATE & DANCE 

for

Golden Mentors

Is a dance therapy regimen designed for older adults that will address their special needs and help our Golden Mentors tremendously. There are beneficial advantages that can significantly improve their aerobic capacity, lower body muscular endurance, strength, balance, flexibility, agility and ambulation. 

Dancing benefits the elderly in many ways both physically and mentally. Elderly people who dance regularly improve their motor skills and much, much more. Dancing is fun and invigorating at the same time; it provides our Golden Mentors with exercise for the body combined with the cognitive engagement they need in order to stay sharp. Overall, dance gives the brain and body healthy stimulation.

ACTUATE & DANCE 

for

Golden Mentors

André Tyson is a former Principal Dancer and Company Teacher with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (1985-1994) and a charter member of Complexions Contemporary Ballet (1994-1995). Tyson is a former Assistant Dean and was a Senior Faculty/Contemporary Instructor at California Institute of the Arts Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance (

André Tyson is a former Principal Dancer and Company Teacher with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (1985-1994) and a charter member of Complexions Contemporary Ballet (1994-1995). Tyson is a former Assistant Dean and was a Senior Faculty/Contemporary Instructor at California Institute of the Arts Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance (2008-2018). He was also Lead Admissions Recruiter and Department Faculty Liaison for the Korea National University of Arts Exchange Program. Tyson also served as a Peer Advisor, Student Mentor for the Dance Department and was Faculty Representative for the CalArts Academic Counsel.
 

Throughout his career he has studied with, worked along side and collaborated with a range of prominent master teachers, educators and artists. His ongoing quest for excellence is evidence of a commitment to his personal growth as an artist and a belief that such commitment is reflected in the devotion and instruction he provides his students. Creative expression as manifested in the expansion of physical and artistic boundaries, reflects Tyson’s proactive approach to his career development and concomitantly enriches his ability to create, instruct and inspire.

The list of master teachers with whom Tyson has studied is a long and distinguished one. To further strengthen the command of his craft, Tyson acquired extensive training and certifictions in the Somatic applications of Pilates, and 

MELT Method.

The synergy and synchronicity of the art of dance is made manifest daily in the dance between teacher and student, choreographer and dancer, colleague and colleague, and school/college and community. These relationships, like art, are organic and evolving. Tyson remains committed to sharing his talents and giving back to the art form he loves and that has been such a force for positivity in his life and the lives of so many others.

With more than 35 years of experience, Tyson has taught at studios throughout the New York Tri-state area as well as respected universities, schools and studios across the country and the globe.. He taught all levels of contemporary dance (Horton and Graham based techniques), Pilates method, Jazz, Floor Barre a Terre, Contemporary Partnering, Repertory, Improvisation and Choreographic Workshops.
 

Tyson's career reflects artistic work and collaboration with a stellar roster of actors, choreographers, composers, dancers, directors, designers and technicians in both live and recorded performances. For the past several years Tyson has combined an active teaching schedule with a successful range of Workshops and Master Classes across the country..

Exploring stimulating career opportunities as well as new artistic frontiers color and heighten not only his life as a creator, performer, instructor, educator, and like a pebble in a pond, ripple outward to influence and enhance the lives of his students. They also imbue his passions and collaborative spirit as a global dance citizen.

 

What propels us to dance, create and instruct? Why are we called and inspired to express ourselves creatively and artistically? Why does one teach? Our expression of those urges are expressed and manifested in a variety of ways and are amongst the most intimate means of communication. This inner call, while expressed in highly personal an

What propels us to dance, create and instruct? Why are we called and inspired to express ourselves creatively and artistically? Why does one teach? Our expression of those urges are expressed and manifested in a variety of ways and are amongst the most intimate means of communication. This inner call, while expressed in highly personal and individual ways, is universal in its essence.
 

Creativity and the making of art is an integral part of our humanity. Primal in its appeal, it is also a highly sophisticated means of expression. Artful expressions can serve as a window on a culture as a whole or as a window to the soul of a solitary artist. We communicate through art and the artist, and public connect at the most essential of levels. Together, upon this common ground, we make safe a space to grow, share, learn and experience ourselves, one another and the larger world around us.
 

Examining innovative, sometimes-provocative, ways of molding matter in a temporary corporal aesthetic container that changes through time and space allows our humanity to form and flow. The body is then transformed into a writable and readable subject. The phenomenological experience of dance reflects intellectual and artistic expansion. Those intellectual and artistic curiosities cultivate and promote personal and universal experiences that become revelatory moments in dance. The self, extending itself, becomes an agent for change and further bestows and perpetuates the renewed possibility for the continuum of eco-systems of movement and life.

Art, specifically dance is connected to sacredness and is an implement of being. The sharing of revelatory moments helps a dancer, choreographer and instructor stand in their own being. The viewer joins this shared moment in conscious and unconscious modus connecting movement to thought and memory that becomes a catalyst for response and new, more profound understanding. 

Projecting oneself forward through a mind body connection of a physical action frees us from rationality devoid of didacticism. The body has no problem holding and handling this paradox of life and we propel ourselves forward as a species. We witness aspects of our collective divinity in the celebration of the human form. The evolution of the human condition is an intriguing prospect for me as an artist to investigate.
 

Creative expression through dance, choreography, instruction and making art is a liberating probability for me. The intrinsic properties one has as a dancer/choreographer/

instructor/educator 

are elements and vehicles of excavations for me throughout this process. Those excavations have been challenging at times and posed questions that are fascinating launching points into uncharted territory and new discovery.

Art, dance, choreography, instruction and the systems they intersect give me a fresh eye at viewing the world and the intersectionality of those systems. 

Movement can be play and the source of freedom, physical release, mental cleansing as well as an emotional refuge for the soul. Movement can be a spiritual re-indoctrination through physical exploration, defining and acknowledging space, texture, time, opposing gravity, will and the suspension of disbelief. Additionally, movement as cathartic release or an investigation that contributes to critical thinking can be a maddening proposition, joyous exaltation and a reaffirmation of the self.

Lastly, movement is an acknowledgement and/or expansion of the id and the ego. In these moments of revelation one may not recognize oneself, nor realize one is dancing. To paraphrase Nietzsche: Dance is each and every time a new name given to the earth... Movement encodes a new world order to the planet with a shared purpose and a stratagem for dialog, compassion, creativity, spirituality and excellence. 

For reasons inexplicable, our inner monologues often find their most eloquent expressions via the language of dance. Through creative movement and dance, we reveal the range of the human experience in all its subtleties and complexities – the dark and light, the good and evil, the sorrow and the joy. With respect, honor and love we dance and in embracing this art form, we embrace 

the dance of life itself..