Interview Q&A
How long have you been in business?
Dancewave began in 1995 with the Kids Cafe Festival, a popular event giving NYC teens a chance to learn about and perform with college students. In 2001 we expanded to include D-Wave in Motion and Master Class Tour, our arts-in-education programs in NYC public schools. That same year, Dancewave founded The Dancewave Company (DC), a pre-professional training program for dancers aged 12-18. We opened our School at Dancewave and held our first three-week Summer Dance Intensive in 2008 and have continued to grow and expand our programs and now offer classes for youth ages 18months-18years, as well as adults interested in dance/fitness, and continue to support the local arts community with low-cost studio rental rates for rehearsals and small performances.
What is your primary product or service?
Dancewave offers the following programs for Youth & Adults:
Youth Programs
1) Pre-Professional Company Programs, in which students train and perform the work of renowned modern choreographers including: Mark Morris, Ron Brown, Larry Keigwin, Kyle Abraham, Sean Curran, Camille Brown, Jamal Jackson, and Dante Brown. Every year, Dancewave supports the work of over 15 professional choreographers and employs 30 dance teaching artists. Dancewave pre-professional companies present 6-10 premier works by renowned and emerging artists.
2) The School at Dancewave, which offers dance classes to students aged 18 months to 18 years
3) Summer Dance Intensives two, two-week programs that offer teens/young adults up to four daily dance classes including special electives like choreography. This year our advanced intensive taking place on Governors Island, in collaboration with LMCC, will feature the works of Shen Wei Dance Arts and Stefanie Batten Bland
4) Dancing Through College and Beyond, a free, full-day college-readiness event for youth preparing applications for university dance programs
5) Step-Up Scholarship Initiative, an initiative that provides low-income students with tuition assistance, dance classes and work-study experience at the Dancewave center
6) D-Wave in Motion, an arts-in-education program that brings dance classes into NYC public schools that are no longer able to offer arts or physical education classes
Adult Programs
1) Adult Classes including: hip hop, modern, modern company, ballet, and zumba
2) Low-cost rehearsal space for local artists with subsidized studio rental rates for professional dancers, choreographers and companies.
How did you first become interested in your line of business? (if owner) - What is your background? (If owner or store manager)
Diane Jacobowitz, Executive/Artistic Director and founder, has a distinguished career in performing, choreography and arts administration. She has taught dance to youth and adults of all ages and backgrounds for 26 years at numerous schools, institutions and universities. Over her career, she has directed and taught at several programs including the Dance Department at Westchester Music and Arts Camp and Hunter College Dance Department. She was instrumental in establishing the Dance Major at Long Island University, where she was a professor for 9 years teaching ballet, modern, choreography, aerobics and speech.She taught and directed the middle school dance program and afterschool dance elective at the Berkeley Carroll School in Park Slope for 6 years. As choreographer, Diane choreographed and directed her own company, the Diane Jacobowitz Dance Theater for 15 years, during which time, the company toured, performed and engaged in residencies throughout the Northeast. Her company, DJDT performed at BAM in 1992. As a dancer, Ms. Jacobowitz performed with several prominent choreographers including Kenneth King, Marta Renzi, Grethe Holby, Kathy Duncan and Annabelle Gamson. With Kenneth King, she performed at BAM and appeared in the Michael Blackwood film, “Making Dances”. She founded Dancewave in 1995 with the mission of bringing dance to a broad spectrum of the city youth population, particularly to those talented dancers who lacked the means to afford pre-professional training. Her main focus has been working with young people as artists in the making and connecting them early to the rigor of high level performance and exposure to world renowned dance artists. As Executive/Artistic Director of Dancewave for the past 20 years, she has developed innovative programming to capture the talents and imagination of young dancers including a unique dance performance training curriculum, which emphasizes rigor, nurturing with coach mentoring and group teambuilding..Some of the programs she has developed, in addition to the Dancewave Company model, include Dancing Through College and Beyond, the Dance Career Symposium and the Kids Cafe Festival. Under her leadership, Dancewave currently reaches over 3,000 young people citywide through programs both at the Dancewave School and in partnership with over ten New York City public schools. She is currently leading the campaign for Dancewave's city capital project-- the opening/launch of a brand new dance center in downtown Brooklyn in 2017.
How do you differentiate yourself from other businesses in your category and area?
Our programs accomplish one of our major goals: giving students of all socio-economic backgrounds the chance to study dance. Since moving into our current location in 2008, enrollment in School at Dancewave classes has increased dramatically. School at Dancewave now serves over 300 students; we run five performing youth ensembles, and work with underserved students in 15 NYC public schools each year. Dancewave also has its first capital project underway, renovating an industrial building to create a new community arts and culture center at 182 Fourth Avenue in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn; an endeavor that will cement our status as a cultural anchor in our community.
How many locations do you have and do you have plans to expand?
Dancewave currently has two locations: 45 4th Avenue and 182 4th Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11217. We also operate classes at satellite spaces in surrounding Brooklyn areas (see our website for full details). We have an exciting capital project underway to fully renovate 182 4th Avenue, creating the new Dancewave Center. The New Dancewave Center at 182 4th Avenue will be three times the size of our current space and will act as a community hub offering dance training for all ages, affordable rehearsal space, community events, performances, professional development workshops, and artist talks. The site will allow us to expand our current class offerings to meet demand, reduce reliance on outside studio rentals, and create a new home that accommodates Dancewave's rapid growth.
Provide detailed directions to your location
Dancewave is conveniently located just steps away from the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center and accessible by several modes of public transportation including B/D/N/Q/R/2/3/4/5 and LIRR. Limited street parking also available.
What type of payments do you accept?
Dancewave accepts cash, checks, money orders and the following major credit cards: Visa, MasterCard and Discover.
Which areas do you service?
Dancewave serves residents in Brooklyn as well as the surrounding boroughs.
Who owns your company or runs daily operations?
Dancewave has a small administrative staff running our programs and overseeing day-to-day operations.
What are your hours of operation?
Dancewave office hours are Monday-Friday, 10am to 6pm. Classes are held Monday through Sunday and rentals are accommodated on flexible, extended schedule. Please visit our website for full class schedule and rental options.
What is the best compliment anyone can give you?
Hearing and seeing the transformative power of dance in the lives of children and adults is the best compliment and most rewarding aspect of our work.
What is your favorite quote or Bible verse?
"To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking."
Agnes de Mille
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