DANCE + LITERACY PROGRAM INSPIRES KERN COUNTY CHILDREN to READ

Between June 1-August 1, catch over 20 performances by 7 different dance studios at 14 Kern County Library branches

KERN COUNTY, CA.- May 25, 2019- Kern Dance Alliance, Kern County Library, and Kern Literacy Council will launch Books in Motion: DANCE + LITERACY, a FREE children’s summer literacy program that links dance and reading by focusing on Common Core Standards for Reading Literature. Families will have the opportunity to visit Kern County Library branches to watch a dance performance based upon a well-known children’s book. Children will also learn choreography, create a craft that coincides with the book’s theme, and take a FREE book home. New this year, includes a Spanish narration and performance of “Color Dance” performed by Spotlight Dance Academy at the Lamont Library Branch on June 12 at 12:30 pm.

Books in Motion is geared for students in the early literacy stages (K-3rd grade) and is designed to tap into their imagination and encourage them to read books. For some, reading is a concept that is too foreign to understand due to age and brain development. Books in Motion will bypass this intangible feeling by allowing children to see the magic of a book laid out on a stage with real characters coming to life. Children do not have to read the words – they can read the dancers’ movements. By tapping into curiosity, children will be motivated to explore literacy, which leads them back to the written words that brought the book to life.

The 3rd annual Books in Motion program is a collaboration with seven contracted Kern County dance studios: Bakersfield City Ballet, Dancer’s Turnout Academy, Downtown Dance Arts, Mallory Academy of Dance, Heather Benes + Mojave Elementary School, Spotlight Dance Academy, and Tri Valley Arts Ballet Academy.

Books in Motion has been generously funded by the Arts Council of Kern County, Chevron, Stria, the Robert Grimm Family Foundation, and Kern Family Health Care.