As Ms. Haaranen's company developed, she saw the need to bring her vision of dance to the world of dance instruction, which would have dance be a complete and enjoyable experience for young children, and taught in a way which excites them, rather than as a series of set movements to be repeated over and over. This led Ms. Haaranen to be invited to create a dance curriculum for the YWCA in New York City in 1996. The success of this innovative curriculum, and the enthusiasm of both the children and parents, encouraged Ms. Haaranen to create her own dance school and company, both of which are called Childance. Childance is now completing its third successful year and operates out of studio space in Saint Peter's Church at Citicorp Center in Midtown Manhattan. Dance notation is included to the dance learning process.
Children express themselves in their own choreography.
The children learn to understand that dance is a language which can be written down. Children choreograph their own dances by making choices in two ways. First, the children choose symbols they want to work with. Then they learn to interpret these symbols in their own creative personal ways. Second, the children have the freedom to invent and arrange movements using symbols as a basic structure for creative exploration.