Kickline

A unique program that brings Vermont schools together through dance!

Kickline is a free Flynn dance program designed specifically for middle and high schools. The goal of Kickline is to support social-emotional wellbeing and physical health for Vermont youth. The program provides middle and high school students and teachers an opportunity to move and have fun together. Everyone who is registered will receive a set of instructional videos, created by Middlebury College professor and dancer Christal Brown. Over the course of the school year, students and teachers will have fun learning dances, work with Flynn teaching artists at your school, and participate in regional rehearsals. The program culminates in a big group dance party/performance at the Vermont State House in Montpelier in May.

HERE'S HOW TO PARTICIPATE

Fill out the registration form
Receive instructional videos
Schedule a free visit from a Flynn teaching artist (January-March)
Attend a regional rehearsal led by Flynn teaching artists (April)
Join schools from around the state for a big group dance party and performance (May)

Join Christal Brown for a Kickline Q&A via Zoom on January 3 + 4, 3:30-4:30 pm

Kickline Dance Videos

register for Q&A

Learning Guide

Register your students

Register to participate

Christal Brown

Choreographer, educator, performer, writer, and activist Christal Brown is from Kinston, North Carolina, and received her BFA in dance, with a minor in business, from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Upon graduation, Brown went on to tour nationally with Chuck Davis’ African-American Dance Ensemble and internationally with Andrea E. Woods/Souloworks. Brown performed with and managed Gesel Mason Performance Projects while apprenticing with the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange in Takoma Park, Maryland. Upon relocating to New York Brown apprenticed with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company before finding a home with Urban Bush Women, where she spent three seasons as a principal performer, community specialist, and apprentice program coordinator. Christal is the Founding Artistic Director of INSPIRIT, a performance ensemble and educational conglomerate dedicated to bringing female choreographers together to collaborate and show new work. Combining her athleticism, creativity, love for people, and knack for teaching, Brown continues to teach and create works that redefine the art of dance and the structure of the field.

The benefits of dance

In addition to providing physical health benefits, dance education has been shown to support emotional well-being and social-emotional skill development, including awareness of self and others, self-discovery, self-confidence, collaboration, creativity and emotional release and expression. Studies reveal that dance classes can have a positive impact on student achievement, teacher satisfaction, and school culture.

Read the NDEO study

Impact of Dance in K-12 setting

VT Content Area Graduation Proficiencies & Performance Indicators

Create

Experiment with elements of dance and a variety of stimuli to create work (choreographed or improvised) by exploring personal movement preferences and strengths to challenge skills. (DA:Cr1.1.HSIa)

Present

Space: Develop partner and ensemble skills that show understanding of spatial designs and relationships (i.e., lifts, balances, formations, transitions, etc.). (DA:Pr4.1.HSIa)

Energy: Develops body awareness by connecting energy and dynamics to movements and applying them through all parts of the body. (DA:Pr4.1.HSIc)

Develop a plan for healthful practices in dance activities and everyday life including nutrition and injury prevention. (DA:Pr5.1.HSIb)

Respond

Compare different dances using dance terminology, discuss artistic ideas, and explain how relationships occur within the elements of dance and dance technique. (DA:Re8.1.HSI)

Connect

Compare the process used in the choreography to that of other creative, academic, or scientific processes when creating a solo/group dance that answers a question or problem (i.e., dance in relation to other disciplines, integrated themes, historical/current events, socio-political issues, etc.). (DA:Cn10.1.HSIb)

Vermont Portrait of a Graduate Performance Indicators: Learner Agency, Well-Being, Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, and Communication