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Dancing Classrooms Inc.

Creating Connections, Inspiring Confidence

New York City, NY   |  www.dancingclassrooms.org

Mission

Dancing Classrooms' mission is to cultivate essential life skills in children through the joyful art and practice of social dance. Our vision is schools and communities where every child is connected, respected and given an environment in which to thrive. Through standards based, in-school residencies, we use the vocabulary of ballroom dance to cultivate the positive feelings that are inherent in every child. The maturity necessary to dance together fosters respect, teamwork, confidence and a sense of joy and accomplishment, which we hope to bring to every child. Ballroom dance is the medium we use to nurture these qualities.

Ruling year info

1985

Executive Director

Ms. Nancy Kleaver

Deputy Director

Eve Wolff

Main address

1350 Avenue of the Americas 2nd Floor

New York City, NY 10019 USA

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Formerly known as

American Ballroom Theater Company, Inc

EIN

22-2542960

NTEE code info

Arts Education/Schools (A25)

Youth Development Programs (O50)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

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Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Dancing Classrooms Core Program

Dancing Classrooms' Core Program is a 10 week, 20 session in-school residency for grades 5-8 led by one of our professional Teaching Artists. Students learn basic steps and patterns in six social dances and develop teamwork, communication and respect through an age-appropriate curriculum that incorporates history, geography and literacy skills. Culminating events showcase the skills of the students and bring together the entire school community for a celebration of social dancing.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth

Working with schools and Community Based Organizations, Dancing Classrooms offers after school lessons in social dance, both partnered-and non to children of all ages and abilities.

Population(s) Served
Young adults
Adolescents
Children
Preteens
Families

Where we work

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Dancing Classrooms aims to increase it's presence in schools in all of our sites. We will continue to strengthen our program in the areas of social emotional learning as well as physical fitness and will be developing a "gender neutral" curriculum which will allow for students to experience both roles in a dance team. We continue to develop ways to increase the effectiveness of our Core Program and work to bring the benefits of social dancing to the school community, strengthening the bonds between adults, caregivers and children.

The Dancing Classrooms Board and Executive Leadership will be embarking on a new strategic planning process in 2020. The Board and Directors seek to expand the National Network and develop partnerships with New York City community arts organizations to broaden our current program offerings. With a focus on development, organizational capacity, and program diversification, Dancing Classrooms will continue to grow the quality learning experiences we have offered students for the past 25 years.

Dancing Classrooms continues to leverage Board and staff expertise and seek out partnerships that help us advance our mission. Thanks to a dedicated staff (many of whom have been with the organization for over 10 years), we have a strong and replicable program with a proven track record and stellar reputation for delivering consistent results. Our Teaching Artists are highly trained (40 hours) in the Dulaine Method, which provides consistent, quality instruction across all schools.

In 25 yrs of program existence, we have reached over 200,000 students in NYC, employed over 300 Teaching Artists nationwide, and grown from our home base in NYC to over 25 sites nationally and internationally. Our program has been the subject of 2 critically acclaimed documentary films ("Mad Hot Ballroom" (2005); "Dancing in Jaffa") (2013); and one feature film ("Take the Lead" (2006) starring Antonio Banderas as DC founder Pierre Dulaine).

In the future we strive to increase the amount of time students spend in our residencies by developing a Middle School program, create an effective professional development product for classroom teachers, and increase the number of meaningful family engagement opportunities.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We share the feedback we received with the people we serve, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback

Financials

Dancing Classrooms Inc.
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

Dancing Classrooms Inc.

Board of directors
as of 07/17/2024
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Ms. Patrice Tanaka

Founder and CEO of Joyful Planet LLC

Term: 2022 -

Harry Chung

Pierre Dulaine

Dancing Classrooms

John J Entwistle

Executive Leasing, Inc

Sheila Hoerle

Yvonne Marceau

Dancing Classrooms

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 2/23/2023
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender
Sexual orientation
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or other sexual orientations in the LGBTQIA+ community
Disability status
Person without a disability

The organization's co-leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
Multi-Racial/Multi-Ethnic (2+ races/ethnicities)
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or Straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

Transgender Identity

Sexual orientation

Disability

Equity strategies

Last updated: 07/17/2024

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.