CATHERINE GALLANT
PS 89
Catherine Gallant, K-5
PS 89
Catherine Gallant has been teaching at PS 89 in Lower Manhattan since 1998 when she created the dance program with an emergent curriculum directly inspired by the DEL model. She primarily works with grades Pre-K – 5, and also taught middle school students there from 2002-2006. Catherine was the assistant director at the Harkness Dance Center (1994-96) during the time that DEL was just beginning. She was very fortunate to study with DEL founder Jody Arnhold as well as Ann Biddle, Barbara Bashaw, Kathleen Isaac and Kyle Haver among others who allowed her to understand how to utilize the work she was already exploring as an artist/educator. She began to teach what she wanted to learn more about. Her main goal has been to bring all students to view themselves as generators of their own movement vocabulary through the language of LMA. At PS 89 learners have had ongoing opportunities to mine their own imaginative responses to music, visual arts, literacy, history, science and social studies through dance making.
Catherine Gallant, (dancer, choreographer, teacher) brings dance to new audiences through direct interaction with the public via works in non-traditional sites most recently in Portumna, Ireland at the Irish Workhouse Center. Ms. Gallant’s work often explores themes of chance, doubt and the body as a source of comfort and torment. Catherine Gallant/DANCE has been seen at Danspace St. Mark’s Dance Access, Chashama, GreenSpace, 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center and Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out. Catherine has been the dance educator at PS 89 in NYC since 1998. She and her young students were featured in the documentary, PS DANCE! She was on the writing committee for NYC Blueprint for the Arts in DANCE and is on the faculty of the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) and Hunter College. She is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory and holds an MFA in Dance from Temple University. Catherine is also the director of Dances by Isadora which, since 1989, performs, teaches and collaborates with dancers throughout the world, most recently with choreographer, Jerome Bel, on his recent work, Isadora Duncan. She has studied and performed the work of Isadora Duncan since 1982 and is a founding member of the Isadora Duncan Archive.