Bringing dance to school children, at-risk youth and more…

Polaris’ Rise to Dance program offers year-round programming to break down the economic barriers that keep people from being able to experience dance.

Dance Classes for At-Risk Youth

Polaris currently partners with Joseph Wyatt  to offer one dance class per week to the students of Open Meadow Schools, at no cost to the students or the school. These dance classes, taught by Joseph, Polaris company members and Polaris dance school instructors, focus on providing opportunities for the students to experience movement, artistic self-expression and self-esteem enhancement.

Free to Dance

The Polaris Contemporary Dance Center offers 1 – 2 full days of free dance classes per year. On these pre-selected days, all Polaris dance classes are open to the public at no cost. Join the Polaris email newsletter in order to receive notification of each Free to Dance event.

Free Matinees

During each major dance work presented by Polaris, a free matinee of the dance performance is offered to Portland area school children and local nonprofit organizations serving disadvantaged populations. If you would like to arrange for your school/organization to attend our next free matinee, please email info@polarisdance.org.

Scholarships

Through our scholarship programs, gifted dancers who otherwise wouldn’t have the means to partake in our Pre-Professional Training Program are allowed to shine. These scholarships are offered to low-income pre-professional students who have shown great promise in making a professional career in dance. Please click here for more information.

Residencies

Polaris’ Rise to Dance program offers residencies to organizations serving disadvantaged populations at no cost. For more information, please click here.