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TESTIMONY

Dian Dong, Associate Director of Chen Dance Center, on the Role of Dance in Education and Community Engagement

5:23:00

·

111 sec

Dian Dong gives testimony on the vital role of dance in education and community engagement, especially in Chinatown and the Lower East Side. Chen Dance Center uses DCA funding for free programming that served 6,000 K-12 students across NYC through interactive dance performances telling stories about building America. The testimony highlights how dance engages students more effectively than traditional methods.

Chen Dance Center is based in Lower Manhattan and serves the Chinatown and Lower East Side communities.
The organization was displaced by a fire prior to the pandemic and lost its founder.
With DCA funding, they provide free dance programs in schools citywide.
Their interactive performances engage students and teach about American history more effectively than reading and writing assignments.

Dian Dong

5:23:00

My name is Dion Dong from Chandan Centre in Lower Manhattan.

5:23:04

Thank you for this opportunity to speak with you.

5:23:07

Chandan Centre serves the Chinatown and Lower East Side community, but also community wide.

5:23:16

New York City is probably known as the Dance Capital of the Nation.

5:23:21

And yet, dance artists and companies all struggle to make ends meet while trying to make it seem effortless.

5:23:27

And, unfortunately, that's what we taught in dance to do.

5:23:29

You're gonna leap and do all of this, and then you have to make it effortless.

5:23:32

So we're really good at that.

5:23:35

So just before the pandemic, our organization was displaced from a major fire at 7 Mulberry Street, then we lost our founder.

5:23:47

Our our company works decided to work even harder because DCA funding has been our life has been will support for us.

5:23:58

We are able to do free programming in citywide schools And this past year, we served 6000 k to 12 students all through the support of DCA.

5:24:11

And when we travel to schools in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and throughout Manhattan, we witnessed the transformation of hundreds of young audiences who come instantly engage in our interactive dance performances, which tell the stories of the building of America.

5:24:27

You can't do more than that because the teachers tell us, if we made them read this chapter and write a book report, they would have a long face and they wouldn't remember anything.

5:24:38

But in a 45 minute assembly program, they see it through dance as an interactive program.

5:24:44

They stand up and they learn some movements and they remember.

5:24:47

So thank you for this opportunity to speak on behalf of DCA Funding.

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Colby Herschel, Artistic Director and Co-founder of Scantic River Productions, on the organization's contributions to diverse theater and arts programming in NYC

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David Johnston, Development Director at the Jazz Gallery, on the Essential Role of the Jazz Gallery in Preserving and Promoting Jazz Music in New York City

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