A student from China was spending his first day in school in the United States and did not speak any English.  He was able to participate and integrate quickly with other students in a dance program in which communication was non-verbal.

        At a recent piano concert for children in a college auditorium, teachers noted how engaged the students were, from the time that the pianist greeted them as they arrived.  Rather than sitting back, slumped in their seats, they were practically dancing throughout the performance.

        Arts organizations recognize the value of cultivating an appreciation for the arts in younger audiences.  In an era of increasing budget cuts that impact youth activities and education, arts organizations are filling an important niche by developing and providing robust educational outreach programs.  In doing so, not only will they reap the rewards of a larger, more appreciative audience, but also there is benefit to schools, students, and ultimately the community.  Two Treasure Valley arts organizations are implementing arts education programs directly in the schools.

        Ballet Idaho Managing Director Julie Numbers Smith sees her organization’s efforts to educate students in the arts as fulfilling an obligation they have to be an active part of the community they serve.

        “We like to see ourselves as part of a larger family,” she says. “Our audience is very much part of what we do.  We become whole where we include everyone.”

        Ballet Idaho’s Learning Through Dance program puts professional dance educators in front of more than 2,100 third graders throughout the Treasure Valley and beyond.  The program employs kinesthetic learning methods—which utilize movement and activity—introducing students to such concepts as spatial awareness, movement patterns, stage and cardinal directions, choreographic principles, diverse cultural dances, history of ballet, movement qualities of ballet and modern dance, musicality and rhythm, and connections between dance and healthy living.

        The instructors fuse movement and dance with other subject matter for a new learning experience, Numbers Smith says.  For example, students might explore the patterns of planetary movement, for a much different experience than reading about the solar system in a textbook.  Activities progress in sequences so that students build upon the movement skills, employing more complex movements in each learning activity.

        The impact of such a program on the learning environment is profound.  Researchers in educational psychology at Boise State University found almost four times the academic improvement rate than conventional academic interventions for students having participated in the dance program. 

        Studies show that music education can have a similarly profound effect on students.  A study by Northwestern University researchers shows that receiving musical training early in life enhances long-term language learning in adults and improves the mind’s ability to decipher sound.

        The Boise Philharmonic’s new Musicians in the Classroom program is placing musicians in more than 275 second grade classrooms in Boise, Meridian, and Nampa school districts this year.  The musicians will make presentations to the students that encourage identification of a soundscape, which can allow the visualization of the pictures in a musical story. 

        The program was developed by the Philharmonic after it surveyed school districts about where their help might have the most impact. 

        “The teachers asked us for opportunities to bring students and musicians together to talk about their instruments, the sounds they make, and their development as musicians,” Boise Philharmonic education coordinator Nancy Smith said. “It’s an incredible program.  The teachers and the musicians are excited.”

        The Boise Philharmonic also offers free children’s concerts such as the Verde Percussion Group.   The next concert is February 9, at Northwest Nazarene University’s Brandt Auditorium in Nampa.  And the Boise Philharmonic Youth Orchestra allows students to receive coaching from the Philharmonic’s principal musicians and perform concerts featuring challenging work from Brahms, Mozart, and others.

        For more information, contact Boise Philharmonic education coordinator Nancy Smith at 344-7849 or visit boisephilhar monic.org.  To hear more about Ballet Idaho’s education program, call Echo Waldron at 343-0556 ext. 15, or visit www.balletidaho.org. 

Beth Markley is a Boise freelance writer and consultant to nonprofit organizations.  She and her husband have two boys.