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Flex Program - FlexIN FlexOUT
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About this campaign
We are starting this #SpreadLove Campaign in order to sustain our core operations: providing free Flex dance sessions for youth in detention centers (FlexIN) and in the community (FlexOUT) through a transition period. We are now in our 4th year of operation. The Flex Program partners with major organizations and foundations, but due to the timeline of agreements we now need to raise funds in order to support our teaching staff.
Join us in our mission to help teaching artists make a sustainable living doing meaningful work. Funds will also go towards developing our internship program involving previous students in various assistant positions.
1 out of 6 youth are neither in school or employed in Brooklyn according to a recent study (Vital Brooklyn Initiative). Other studies show that 70% of youth held in secure detention were arrested or returned to secure detention within one year of release. It is our aim to engage as many youth as possible through paid youth internship positions. Our teachers are getting a lot of requests from youth where to go for Flex sessions in the community, and how to be involved with the program when they are released. It is our belief that paid internships in a supportive and creative environment will help curb the cycle of recidivism.
In the past month we have recruited 30 youth from Horizons and Crossroads detention centers (Brooklyn, Bronx) who wants to join our initiative “Battle of the Halls”. The youth are not generally mixed between the halls. The Flex Program offers a unique opportunity for collaboration and development for the youth. In 2018, we aim to expand our programming to reach youth in non-secure detention centers and public schools in New York. We will also create a youth committee to include important voices and ideas for program development in our board meetings.
The Flex Program depends on donors like you to help realize our vision, and to help us in our efforts in developing our program. Every amount counts and is highly appreciated. Please also help us share this campaign, and spread the word about the work that we do.
Teaching in detention centers can be challenging, We want to provide additional support to our teaching staff through trainings and workshops. This will also enhance the quality of our programming by giving the teachers new inspiration and insights. Of the $15000 goal: 10% will go towards renting space for workshops, 50% towards salary for teaching artists, 20% towards training and professional development, 20% towards internship development.
The Flex Program consists of two formats: “FlexIN”, which is the on-site program provided in secure detention centers, foster care and other facilities in New York, and “FlexOUT”, which provides free workshops for high school students in various neighborhoods (predominately Crown Heights and East New York). FlexOUT includes performances transforming public places through the arts.
Internationally, the Flex Program operates as Oslo Flex (Norway) - providing flex dance productions and free workshops for kids from various neighbourhoods in Oslo. The general aim is to build bridges to foster artistic collaboration and cultural exchange.
Artistic development is also an important part of our mission. The teaching artists split their time performing at various gigs/events and instructing/mentoring the youth.
We have worked with about 350 youth so far, and reach approximately 120 youth with our program every year.
Learn more about our organization and the variety of events and programs here: Flexprogram.com.
Why FLEX?
The Flex Program primarily concentrates on the instruction of Flex Dance – Flex is a unique form of street dance that originated in the streets of Brooklyn in the 1990s. The style is characterized by rhythmic movement in different forms such as bone breaking, waving, illusions/punchlines, hat-tricks, connecting, pausing, gliding, get-low and bruk-up. The Flex Program also includes guest teachers in Lite Feet, Hip Hop, Dancehall, and African Dance upon request from their students. Flex is a style of dance that possesses the foundational techniques of many other dance forms and unlocks true potential of the dancer’s body and mind. Flexing is distinguished by its contortionist body movements, and its “no-rules”, narrative, storytelling capabilities. Because of the reactive nature of Flex, the dancer is often inspired by the immediate environment and is free to tell his or her own story, making for a very emotional performance. The unique nature of Flex dance helps express individual experiences and dramatize performances. In Flex there is a sense of novelty. The dance formulates the appearance of diversity and feelings that is always individual. The art form is rooted in the power of subjective experience.
Through our work with the program we see that Flex is the Hook for the youth. When they see the dancers perform they get interested in learning more. One of the aims of the Flex Dance Program is to spread mass awareness of Flex dancing and its benefits. The program spreads awareness through community engagements like performances, showcases and battles in the community.
See videos here: http://vimeo.com/flexinflexout
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