Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's MAP Education Program to Receive $100K Grant From the NEA

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Acting Chairman Joan Shigekawa today announced Hubbard Street Dance Chicago among 886 nonprofit organizations nationwide to receive NEA Art Works grants. Hubbard Street is recommended for a $100,000 grant - the maximum single amount provided to Art Works grantees - in support of its Movement as Partnership (MAP) Program.

MAP Education Programs, providing long-term engagement in Chicago and Oak Park Public Schools, are projected to serve 60 classrooms in 13 locations in 2014-15, reaching approximately 2,364 students in grades K-6, 70 teachers and five teaching artists, 19 administrators, 200 family members and, through professional dance performances, an additional 1,000 students. In MAP partner schools, in- classroom dance instruction sessions lasting 40-60 minutes are combined with dance integration during other classroom activities, and conclude with performances by participating students.

Says NEA Acting Chairman Joan Shigekawa: "The NEA is pleased to announce Hubbard Street is recommended for an NEA Art Works grant. These NEA-supported projects will not only have a positive impact on local economies, but will also provide opportunities for people of all ages to participate in the arts, help our communities to become more vibrant, and support our nation's artists as they contribute to our cultural landscape."

Says Youth, Education and Community Programs Director Kathryn Humphreys: "We are delighted that the NEA continues to provide such vital support to our core partnership programs. Funding at this level truly changes lives, by bringing Hubbard Street into long-term partnerships to create new models for dance education in public schools. In this age of constant testing, programs encouraging imagination, choice-making and artistic expression are crucial to whole-child development."

Related upcoming events include a sharing by Mitchell Elementary students for peers and their families at the conclusion of their year-long Focus Schools Initiative residency, May 9 at the University of Illinois at Chicago's UIC Theater; two Hubbard Street 2 performances on-site for students at Haugan and Dett Elementary Schools, recipients of Creative Schools Fund Grants, on May 16; and A Moving Dialogue: A Discussion of Action Research and Integrated Curriculum by our veteran MAP partners, June 5 at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. By the conclusion of the 2013-14 school year, Hubbard Street's Youth Dance Programs, which develop movement skills and creative processes at the Hubbard Street Dance Center, will serve more than 1,000 children - these programs' greatest number of registrations to date - while 1,350 parents and children will participate in Family Workshops at the Hubbard Street Dance Center, and at community and cultural partners such as the Art Institute of Chicago.

Visit hubbardstreetdance.com/education for more information about Hubbard Street's Education Programs, including Early Childhood movement classes, before- and after-school sessions, and in- classroom offerings for grades K-8 and high-school students.

About NEA Art Works

Art Works grants support the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and enhancement of the livability of communities through the arts. The NEA received 1,515 eligible applications under the Art Works category, requesting more than $76 million in funding. Of those applications, 886 including Hubbard Street Dance Chicago are recommended for grants totaling $25.8 million. Visit arts.gov for a complete list of projects recommended for Art Works grant support.

About Hubbard Street

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, under the artistic leadership of Glenn Edgerton, celebrates its 36th season in 2013 and 2014. Among the world's top contemporary dance companies and a global cultural ambassador, Hubbard Street demonstrates fluency in a wide range of techniques and forms, and deep comprehension of abstract artistry and emotional nuance. The company is critically acclaimed for its exuberant and innovative repertoire, featuring works by master American and international choreographers. Hubbard Street's artists hail from four countries and 12 U.S. states, and comprise a superlative ensemble of virtuosity and versatility.

Since its founding by Lou Conte in 1977, Hubbard Street has grown through the establishment of multiple platforms. Each is dedicated to the support and advancement of dance as an art form, as a practice, and as a method for generating and sustaining communities of all kinds.

Hubbard Street 2, directed by Terence Marling, cultivates young professional dancers, identifies next- generation choreographers, and performs domestically and abroad, in service of arts education, collaboration, experimentation and audience development.

Extensive Youth, Education and Community Programs, directed by Kathryn Humphreys, are models in the field of arts education, linking the performing company's creative mission to the lives of students and families. Hubbard Street also initiated the first dance-based program in the Midwest to help alleviate suffering caused by Parkinson's disease. Youth Dance Program classes at the Hubbard Street Dance Center include Creative Movement and progressive study of technique, open to young dancers ages 18 months to 16 years.

At the Lou Conte Dance Studio, directed by founding Hubbard Street Dancer Claire Bataille, workshops and master classes allow access to expertise, while a broad variety of weekly classes offer training at all levels in jazz, ballet, modern, tap, African, hip-hop, yoga, Pilates® and Zumba®.