The Creative Dance Center

Anne Green Gilbert founded the Creative Dance Center in 1981. Having danced her whole life, experiencing the positive and sometimes not so positive aspects of studying dance, Anne wanted to create a school that not only developed dancers with skill and technique but also nurtured the creative possibilities within.

• A school that balanced the mastery of movement with the artistry of expression.
• A school where students learned to dance and danced to learn.
• A school that would make teaching and learning a joyful and meaningful experience for teachers and students.
• A school that taught people, not just dance steps.

Our classes are rich in multi-sensory experiences. We believe that strengthening cognitive, social, and emotional skills is just as important as developing strong and healthy bodies.

At CDC, our students:

• are given the opportunity to explore and learn together, creating a special time for bonding and building social skills
• practice fundamental movement patterns (BrainDance) and dance skills; learn names of body parts and anatomical structures, and develop correct alignment
• respond to a variety of music in a joyful way while exploring musical concepts
• learn movement vocabulary; connect words with movements, and discuss and evaluate choreography
• move through space with ease and safety; explore relationships between people and objects; copy movements and practice patterns that increase proprioception-the body's sense of itself in space
• learn movement patterns and sequences; solve problems through movement; create and perform movement phrases and dances to metered music and counts
• explore opposing dance concepts that expand the emotional and physical repertoire; reflect on feelings generated through movement