INTRODUCTION  

The Finding Grace curriculum is based on Ronald K. Brown’s masterwork Grace, a work commissioned in 1999 for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater by then Artistic Director Judith Jamison.   Students study Ronald K. Brown’s style through movement, embedded instructional videos and interviews created specifically for this curriculum, including warm-up sequences and three excerpts from Grace.  

The curriculum—created for elementary, middle, and high school students—invites educators to engage with Grace as both a work of art and a way of being. It uses Grace as a springboard for students to explore creating movement, developing cultural literacy, and fostering Social Emotional Learning (SEL). Students explore ideas of transformation, healing, resistance, forgiveness, grace, and compassion. The Finding Grace curriculum is aligned with the New York City Department of Education’s Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Dance: PreK-12, the National Core Arts Standards (NCAS), and the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) Framework.

ACCESS GRACE CURRICULUM

The Finding Grace curriculum is an Ailey Arts In Education residency taught by Ailey teaching artists and customized to the interests of you and your students. In support of the Ailey residency, the curriculum is available online as a resource for educators.