Creative Dance for All Ages

Anne Green Gilbert founded the Creative Dance Center and Kaleidoscope Dance Company in Seattle, Washington, in 1981 and the Summer Dance Institute for Teachers in 1994. Gilbert started as an elementary school teacher, moved on to dance and pedagogy classes at the University of Illinois at Chicago and University of Washington, then taught children's dance classes at Cornish College and Bill Evans/Dance Theatre Seattle. She has been an adjunct professor at Seattle Pacific University for many years and taught for Lesley University's Outreach master's program for 10 years. For the past three decades, Gilbert has taught toddlers through adults at the Creative Dance Center, trained teachers through her Summer Dance Institute, and conducted hundreds of workshops and residencies across the United States and abroad. In 2000, Gilbert developed the BrainDance, a focusing warm-up exercise that is used in many schools, studios, and homes around the world. She is internationally recognized for her work with young artists and her creative process. She has choreographed dances for university dance companies as well as Northwest dance companies and Kaleidoscope. Gilbert is the author of Teaching the Three Rs Through Movement Experiences, Creative Dance for All Ages, Brain-Compatible Dance Education, Teaching Creative Dance (DVD), BrainDance (DVD), and numerous articles. She has also collaborated with composer Eric Chappelle on the CDs, BrainDance Music and Music for Creative Dance Volumes I-V. She is an active member of the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) and Dance and the Child International (daCi). She was the first Chair of daCi USA and served on the daCi board for twelve years. She served on the daCi board for 12 years. She is founder and past president of the Dance Educators Association of Washington, an organization promoting quality dance education in all Washington State K-12 schools. As a member of the Arts Education Standards project, Gilbert helped write the Washington State Dance Standards and Learning Goals. She is the recipient of several awards, including the NDA Scholar/Artist award in 2005, the National Dance Education Organization Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011, the Lawrence Tenney Stevens American Dance Award for her work with boys and men in dance in 2014, and the American Dance Festival Balasaraswati/Joy Anne Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching in 2016.