Dancewave in Brooklyn, New York, was founded in 1995 by Diane Jacobowitz, their Executive/Artistic Director. Dancewave is a non-profit dance and youth development center that reaches 3,000 students citywide per year. Using dance as a medium for inspiring artistic expression, self-confidence and personal growth, their unique brand of youth development sets Dancewave apart from other dance centers, serving as a bridge between Brooklyn’s diverse families and communities and their City’s world class resources of professional dance, choreographers and dancers.
Dancewave was founded on the belief that performance is the fastest route to achievement, which is why they offer pre-professional dance company training. The Dancewave Company (“DC”) program provides superior pre-professional dance training that includes a rigorous class and rehearsal schedule, exposure to world renowned modern choreographers and a mentoring program led by trained company coaches featuring group and individual mentoring sessions, leadership training and career development. This training provides young artists in the making with artistically substantial learning experiences while guiding their needs for individual achievement and team work building in an atmosphere of respect and open communication. They are proud to report that DC students have a 100% college acceptance rate – a testament to the impact and success of Dancewave programs and the life-enriching value of quality arts education for New York City youth. Membership in Dancewave Companies is by audition only.
Their Dancewave Companies enjoy an abundant range of opportunities to experience commendable works of art beginning with the opportunity to learn landmark pieces of modern choreography under the mentorship of leading choreographers. Past artists include Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, Bill T. Jones, Garth Fagan, Susan Marshall, Mark Morris, Kyle Abraham, Larry Keigwin, Marijke Eliasberg, Jamal Jackson, Donald Byrd, Trisha Brown, Doug Varone, Lar Lubovitch, Christal Brown, Dante Brown, Donald McKayle, Meredith Monk, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Elisa Monte, Sara Pearson/Patrick Widrig, Carla Maxwell, David Dorfman, Camille Brown, Ronald K. Brown, Andrea Miller and more.
Dancewave brings together a diverse community of young people through dance education
and performance. They believe that dance provides a forum for meaningful, positive exchange between kids of all backgrounds and cultures. Since its inception, Dancewave has created programs that are challenging and artistically substantial, and which address young people’s needs for individual achievement and group identity. Our pre-professional dance education and performance training programs offer young people a rare combination of high-level artistic integrity, educational rigor, and nurturing support. They offer instruction in “Creative” classes for their youngest students, i.e. Creative Movement, Creative Modern and Creative Ballet. They also offer Modern Dance, Pre-Ballet, Ballet, Ballet Fundamental, Ballet Repertoire, Pre-Pointe, Pointe, Jazz, Hip Hop, Broadway Stars of Tomorrow and Boys Dance Class.
Dancewave’s program is unique in that they are a youth development, nonprofit organization serving young people through dance. Their dancers are being guided, nurtured, challenged and supported with team building processes facilitated by Dancewave coaches. They also provide peer leadership, mentoring and support for their students through targeted learning goals and self assessment tools. In addition, their pre-professional dance companies work with world renowned modern choreographers such as Paul Taylor, Mark Morris, Trisha Brown, Kyle Abraham, Shen Wei, Ron Brown, Doug Varone, Camille Brown and Andrea Miller and perform regularly in New York City venues as well as touring opportunities.
Over the past decade, Dancewave has reached over 25,000 young people! Today students, parents and their partners in the schools and community as well as funders recognize their excellence, importance and innovations.
Diane is very proud of their dancers as they grow enormously as dancers, as performers and articulate self confident young people who will make a real difference in the world.
In Diane’s opinion, the biggest mistake dancers make is judging themselves by how high their leg lifts, how many turns they can do, how high they can jump or if they can do a split in the air. Dancing is so, so much more than that! They can begin to turn this around by sizing up their technical strengths and recognizing areas where and how they excel and focus on developing these strengths.
Although Dancewave is predominately youth oriented, they also offer the most affordable and fun adult dance classes in Brooklyn! Their classes are drop-in style and are always open to new students. With daily classes for adult students of all fitness and dance levels, there is something for everyone! Dancewave offers a variety of classes for adults to choose from including Fitness Classes, Ballet Classes, Contemporary and Modern Classes and Social Dance Classes! Currently, their classes include Ballet Workout, Beginning Ballet, Barre Fitness, Zumba, Pay What You Can Yoga, Modern, Modern Company, East Coast Swing (Temporarily Paused) and Hip Hop.
Diane’s goal for this year is to reach more students of all ages and get them turned on and excited by the Dancewave juice! She would love to see their program enrollment double over the next two years as they are in the midst of a city capital renovation project that will open in 2017! The new home will have two studios that open up to a performance space! They are building a dance center that will be twice as big as the one they presently have.
It is Diane’s belief that dancing changes lives. It changed hers! She would like to see every child who has the desire to dance to have the opportunity to train at Dancewave regardless of their socio-economic background. Dance is for everyone and dancers make the world a better place.
In the words of one of Dancewave’s alumna, “It introduced me to more dance than I could even imagine. Dancewave changed the way I look and feel about dance, and pushed me to follow my own goals and dreams.”
If you would like more information about Dancewave, visit their website at www.dancewave.org, call them at 718-522-4696 or email them at info@dancewave.org. You can also “Like” them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and connect with them on Instagram.
Please post a comment if you have had any experience with Diane Jacobowitz of Dancewave.
Written By Cyndi Marziani
Owner
BDancewear.com
