Dance in Education:

A Workshop on Teaching Dance within the Classroom

DUO has run three very successful workshops on teaching within the classroom. We are very interested in artist and teacher training, and will continue these workshops throughout the year.

We currently do not have any workshop dates, but if you are interested in attending one, please contact us.

For information contact Julye at julye@danceumbrella.net

For dance artists who are interested in working with youth in schools, but are unsure how to go about the logistics of doing this. This workshop gives participants dynamic tools to work creatively and effectively with a range of ages. Best practices in working with teachers, art programming staff and administrative staff within the school system will also be addressed.

This workshop will be led by Michelle Silagy,an educator, dancer, and choreographer noted for her moving and often autobiographical dance works.

A follow-up in school workshop will occur in the fall. This will allow for artists to take what they have learned and use it in a practical situation. It is recommended that artists interested in working in schools take BOTH workshops.


Michelle Silagy
Since graduating from The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, Michelle has been active as an independent choreographer, dancer and teacher. Previous to her studies at the School, she completed a Bachelor of Art Degree in Drama at San Diego State University, California (Honours). Michelle’s on going creative growth is stimulated through studio exploration with members of the Independent Dance Community primarily Sarah Chase.

Michelle began teaching at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre’s Young Dancers’ Program in 1989, and was Program Director from 1994 to 2005. Her experience with children at The School sustains her desire to discover creative origins within artists of all disciplines through collaboration in dance. She has taught dance to children at The Canadian Opera Company, Toronto Arts for Youth and through The National Ballet School’s “Creating Dances in the Schools Program”. She is a recipient of Artist in Education and Residency Grants from the Ontario Arts Council.

Her choreography, considered as “intimate and carefully crafted” (Globe and Mail) has been presented at The Art Gallery of Ontario, The DuMaurier Stage through DanceWorks, Spring Rites, Dusk Dances, fFIDA, fringe festivals throughout the country, and at Series 8:08 which she co-founded in 1993. Michelle is the inaugural recipient of The Toronto Dance Award in 1999 (for Choreography) created by the Toronto Community Foundation. Recent Choreographic and Performance Projects include 14 Remembered (a Memorial) music direction by Ahmed Hassan at Massey Hall and Four Movement Responses to Original Hand Woven Treasures at The Textile Museum of Canada as part of their 25th Anniversary.

Michelle is active meeting a wide spectrum of requests for bringing movement to educational settings. She has designed alternative approaches of bringing a dance experience to people with special needs through Creative Force Cross Over Projects. As a member of the Royal Conservatory of Music’s LTTA program she develops projects that integrate movement and core curriculum as an expression that compliments multiple learning styles. Through the Conservatory, Michelle has developed incentives at The Bloorview MacMillan Center Lab School where children with Cerebral Palsy are integrated into a classroom setting. Her work there is regarded as a model project and has been noted by specialists as being the most inclusive and innovative approach to movement expression that the Lab has been exposed-to to date. Other workshops in education include: The Music Garden Project (June 2000) in collaboration with photographer Lise Beaudry, a dance and photo day trip for children throughout Ontario (at Yo Yo Ma’s Music Garden in Toronto at the Harbourfront) and We Dance at Lakefield Public School, a workshop created for the inclusion of the Ojibwa Community at the school. Her extensive exposure in schools in the Toronto District School Board, Separate School Board, and Peel District fuels her commitment to bring dance to learners of diverse influences.