Dance With Us launched online in the spring of 2021 with three free public events. The educational digital platform was designed to explain ways to view and speak about dance with comfort, and to create it. Utilizing historical filmed performances and newly-commissioned instructional and dance films, the resource demystifies contemporary dance through teaching fundamental concepts of the art form with the goal of introducing a non-dancer to the world of dance. The development of Dance With Us was in place years before the pandemic, building off resources that had been created over the past two decades, an extension of Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company’s programming. The nonprofit has long been committed to conversing about dance, empowering audiences to trust their opinions, and gain more knowledge of dance in pursuit of expanding one’s dance literacy. This platform gives everyone, regardless of their exposure to dance, tools to use to speak about dance, encouraging them to understand their viewpoint is as valid as that of an ‘expert.’ Wrote and received a grant for leadership support by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The resource is available widely and freely, part of the Open Educational Resources movement (OER), in which knowledge is shared without cost, providing access to all.
