Mark DeGarmo Dance’s Board of Directors hosted “Changing Student Outcomes, One Step at a Time,” a panel discussion on the current state of our NYC public schools, at the Union League Club. Moderated by Lara Holliday, former Director of The Fund for Public Schools, panelists included New York Times best-selling author of “The Battle for Room 314” Ed Boland, MDD Teaching Artist Christopher Odo and PS 15 Principal Irene Sanchez.
Mark DeGarmo Dance was awarded a $27,000 grant by the NEA to support the Partnerships in Learning through Dance and Creativity program. Mark DeGarmo Dance was one of three dance organizations in New York City awarded an Arts Education grant, and the only New York City dance organization serving the PreK – Grade 5 demographic to receive a grant.
Mark DeGarmo Dance’s Board of Directors hosted a panel discussion, “From Ballet to Broadway: A Look Behind the Curtain,” with two cast current cast members of Broadway’s “An American in Paris,” Allison Walsh and Shannon Rugani. Moderated by Board Member Bill Whitener, the panelists discussed their individual journeys to professional performance careers and their transition from dancing in ballet companies to the Broadway stage.
The first MoveUP! Dance Academy for kids started in January with after school classes in Ballet, Jazz and FUNdamentals of Dance, and continued for a second Spring Session in May and June.
Mark DeGarmo was awarded the 2015 Sophie Gerson Healthy Youth Foundation Award “in recognition for creating sustained dance programs for PreK-5 kids and their teachers in Title 1 public schools in the Lower East Side of Manhattan and across New York City.” The award ceremony will take place next spring.
Mark DeGarmo, PHD, Executive and Artistic Director of Mark DeGarmo Dance was honored in Moscow at the opening of the “Enchanted Wanderers” exhibit at theBakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum. Photographs of DeGarmo’s work as a dancer and choreographer were featured alongside images of legendary Russian ballet dancers and artists who developed ballet in the West and made significant contributions to world culture. The exhibit included photographs of Diaghilev, Balanchine, Nureyev, Baryshnikov, Briansky, Arova, Princess Grace of Monaco, and others. The exhibit will enter the archives of the Museum.