Adaptive BrainDance (Summer)
Children & Teens | Available
Adaptive BrainDance is for students of all abilities/disabilities. This creative dance class is filled with mindful support and open spaces to develop body awareness and experience social-emotional learning. The neurodevelopmental movement patterns of the BrainDance bring focus to our bodies and minds. We celebrate personal creativity and uniqueness as we navigate movement together. There are opportunities in class to reflect, share, and participate in active, ongoing conversations about how our bodies individually experience movement. We collectively investigate dance as an internal and external experience using supportive language, images, storytelling, and visualization to guide us. Participants are welcome to bring support in the form of family or staff to aid their participation.
This class is FREE!
- This class is being taught in person. Students should wear comfortable clothes to move in.
Katie Daugherty
Katie Daugherty (she/her) is a Seattle-based artist and is thrilled to teach at the Creative Dance Center. An active educator, performer, choreographer, and miniature maker, you can find her throughout Seattle sharing her passion for the arts. Katie holds a BA from the University of Washington (UW) with a major in dance. Katie began teaching at a preschool in 2020 which supplied her with a valuable foundation for teaching young children. In addition to teaching at the Creative Dance Center, Katie has also taught at the University of Washington and University Child Development School. In each class Katie teaches she aims to build a communal space that values exploration, fun, and supporting one another. Katie has performed works by Brian Brooks, AVID - A Vehicle for Improvised Dance, Alexandra Bradshaw-Yerby, Rachael Lincoln, Alethea Alexander, and Jennifer Salk, among others.
Joel Nyland
Joel has been dancing since age 3 and has been a leader in our Adaptive Dance program since it began. Joel shares: “I am a twenty-three year old dancer and song writer. I have danced mostly in my imagination my whole life because my brain functions differently and my body does not follow its instructions. Learning the BrainDance has increased my ability to move my body. I love helping others see the power of dance.”
A daily advocate for the spelling community, Joel is a “Spellebrity Ambassador” for the International Association for Spelling as Communication (I-ASC). Joel spells, “I am proud to use a letterboard to communicate” to advocate that nonspeaking people need to be recognized as intelligent human beings. Joel’s words and actions remind others to be kind and useful. He has performed his original songs in the Neurolyrical Café and at Boards & Chords. His first full album, Presume Competency, featuring Joel’s songs with contributions by Caden Rainey is available on Amazon Music and iTunes. His second album, Sounds of Gratitude, is available on many platforms including YouTube, Apple Music, and Spotify.