Transforming Lives through the Power of Dance

K-12 STEAM education

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

As a core part of our mission, EDLA! supports historically under-resourced communities throughout L.A. We serve more than 7,000 students with limited access to both art instruction and safe recreational spaces. L. A. has one of the lowest percentages of green space of any major US city. Residents in low-income neighborhoods have access to 24% less park space per person than the city median and 70% less than those in high-income neighborhoods. The COVID-19 pandemic also exacerbated an already existing youth mental health crisis. Regular participation in dance can address this by improving youth's physical fitness and social and emotional health. A recent review of studies to date showed that participation in dance can decrease stress-related problems among teens, improve negative psychological symptoms in teen girls with mild depression, improve self-rated health, and reduce teen girls’ somatic symptoms and emotional distress. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9234256/)

EDLA! addresses these issues by providing high-quality, culturally competent dance education and enrichment programming for 550 students ages 4 to 18 at five sites in Los Angeles. EDLA! teaches many dance forms: ballet, modern, hip hop, breaking, jazz, salsa, Afro-Brazilian, West African, and Mexican folklorico. We align our dance curriculum with the Visual and Performing Arts Content Standards under California Dance Standards. During the school year, students learn historical and cultural knowledge of dance and develop the motor skills and technical abilities that are part of a classical dance program, including stamina, strong muscles, flexibility, and coordination. Many After-School dancers participate in more than one dance form a week and spend several afternoons in our studios. We give students opportunities to perform in the community and in an end-of-year recital, attend professional dance shows, and participate in master classes. New and returning students can try new styles of dance during the four-week Summer Session. During the 2023-24 dance season, we launched a pilot After-School Program site in Watts on Saturdays, serving 30 youth, which received an enthusiastic response. We recently developed a partnership with the Children’s Institute to provide our program at their new Watts campus, and we are looking forward to expanding this program to include weekdays after-school and to serve more youth.

The new After-School program site in Watts is a vital part of EDLA!’s goal to increase the number of students we serve by 25% within five years. During the grant period, we will work to build enrollment at EDLA!’s After-School Program sites, particularly the three new Satellite Program partner sites, through recruitment efforts and ongoing diversified parent/family communication. At our Watts program, we will serve an additional 30 students and add at least two additional classes.
Our After-School Program is where we can have the biggest long-term impact. Many studies in education and after school programming suggest that long-term relationships with students are the most impactful, especially for students who are low income. Of our seniors who graduated from high school in 2024, several had been with EDLA! since the age of 4.

We set the outcomes that 95% of After-School program students score 80% or higher for student knowledge of dance curriculum benchmarks, and 85% of students score 60% or higher for student mastery of the benchmarks. The Spring 2024 results showed that:
· 95.2% of After-School Program students scored 80% or higher for student knowledge, and 71.2% scored 60% or higher for student mastery of dance curriculum benchmarks.
· On the 2023 parent surveys, 100% of parents surveyed said their child’s physical fitness improved, 100% said that participating in EDLA! improved their child’s self-esteem, and 95% said that their child’s sense of being supported by friends and/or the community has improved because of EDLA! · Students also rated the After-School Program as Good or Excellent across all eight areas surveyed.
· 100% of our seniors graduated high school this year and plan to attend college or further training in the fall. We will measure the same outcomes for the 24-25 year.