Peanut Butter & Jelly Dance Company
was founded in 1980 to present performances and programs by adult professional dancer/teachers for elementary and pre -school-age audiences, to sponsor concerts directed to the public, and to teach classes for children and teachers. PB&J has three facets:
1) The Peanut Butter & Jelly Dance Company, a company of professional dancers who perform for and do workshops for children. Our performance approach is energetic and direct, combining colorful dances, movement concepts, and audience participation and exploration of the elements of dance movement. We can do workshops for teachers or students on integrating dance with curriculum, creating dances, or basic principles of dance.
2) PB&J Dance Classes for Kids, an after-school program of dance classes for children ages 3-8, taught from a 'creative movement' perspective. This approach fosters the love of moving and dancing. Young dancers discover their own wide range of movements varying in size, shape, feeling, and speed. This self-discovery is fun. It develops concentration and teaches self-discipline which promotes self confidence. The use of music instills new appreciation and emphasizes auditory and rhythmic skills. Working with props strengthens eye-hand coordination. It is our aim, that with increasing experience, our students will make their dancing expressive and impressive. All classes begin with dance warm-up exercises, followed by creative, improvisational challenges, story dances, free dances, prop dances or good bye solos that explore move-ment themes like shapes or levels. As students mature, more dance technique is added to the curriculum, and classes include more exacting dance warm-up exercises and simple patterns, teaching skills such as turning, jumping, or lifted posture. All classes create beautiful improvisational dances as well as set pieces. The final class of each session is a performance for parents.
3) SMALL FEETS dance company, a dance company for children ages 6 and up.
Performance is the artistic "product" of dance. It is valuable for dance students to participate in performances to display newly won technical proficiency. The mastery and memory required for successful performances gives feelings of achievement and enhances self-esteem. Concerts are also lots of fun! Our goal is to present a concert that is a collaboration between choreographer, dancers, musicians, and parents that is artistically rigorous, within the capabilities of our dancers. Each year, they present one studio concert in our space and then tour the schools of each of the dancers. They also do some performing in the community.
The PB&J Dance Company has performed all over the state. They have presented assembly programs, workshops and residencies to over 70,000 children in 300+ sites around Massachusetts since 1980. In 1997, the company presented their work at the ‘dance and the Child international’ conference in Finland, where they were well received by young dancers and teachers from around the world. The SMALL FEETS dance company has presented an annual concert and programs in schools, community events, and elder homes since 1987. SMALL FEETS and PB&J shared their dances at the daCi USA National Gatherings in 2005 in Philadelphia, PA and in 2008 in Provo, Utah.
PB&J is a non-profit organization that has received grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, and the Brookline Council for the Arts and Humanities.
