Inner-City Arts was founded in 1989 in response to funding cuts that eliminated arts instruction from Los Angeles public schools. Aware of the powerful role of the arts, Bob Bates, Inner-City Arts Co-Founder and Artistic Director, saw the need to offer at-risk children the opportunity to experience the power of creativity.
Recognizing the impact that dance has to engage the creativity of children and change their lives, The Glorya Kaufman Dance Foundation has given support for dance teachers for the Glorya Kaufman Dance Academy at Inner-City Arts. Glorya Kaufman’s gift will allow up to 16,000 children to freely participate in dance classes at Inner-City Arts annually, and to introduce them to dance and movement as a communicative and expressive medium, and a uniquely effective way to convey meaning, emotion and cultural values.
Exploring their world through movement, children discover the joy of self-expression, individually and in groups. Incorporating all the elements of dance – space, time, energy, movement and shape – children create dances from their imaginations, from traditional forms, and as a vehicle for expressing their own stories and those written or told by others. Through dance, children and youth develop the ability to interact physically in ways that are supportive, non-threatening and cooperative.
The dancers from the Bluepalm Dance Company assisted Glorya Kaufman and members of “Dancing with the Stars” in dedicating the Glorya Kaufman Dance Acadedmy at the Mark Taper Center at Inner-City Arts’ new, one acre downtown campus, designed by the award winning architect Michael Maltzan, at 720 Kohler Street.
