PHOTO COURTESY OF EVERT EDUCATION

Students demonstrate triangles, and are perfecting their polygons using stretchy body bands, during “Geometry in Motion” Program.

by Jennifer Morrison-Garza

     (Plain Press February 2024)Tom Evert of DANCE EVERT and Evert Education is partnering with Cleveland Municipal School District’s Clara E. Westropp School of the Arts, through an Artist in Residence program, sponsored and funded by the Ohio Arts Council. Clara Westropp, located at 19101 Puritas Avenue, is the proud recipient of a year-long “Teach Arts Ohio” grant for the 2023-2024 academic calendar year. The $14,000 arts-integrated “STEM” grant was co-authored by Jennifer Morrison-Garza, in collaboration with Euclid resident and professional dancer, Mr. Tom Evert.

     “STEM” (or STEAM”) encompasses the subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering, the ARTS, and Math. Mr. Evert’s unique and cutting-edge programming teaches the Ohio core curriculum through the art of music and movement. He has engaged the students and their teachers in a 20-week arts, math and sciences residency, in the following interactive and hands-on “Evert Education” programs: Pre-K-K: “I Love Shapes!”; Grades1&2: “Sun, Solar Energy & Water Cycles”; Grade 3: “States of Matter: Solid, Liquid & Gas” & “Dancing with Worms”; and Grade 4: “Geometry in Motion.

     Mr. Evert has been working twice weekly with the Clara Westropp students throughout the school year, along with the assistance of Mr. Chip Wilson, Westropp’s Physical Education teacher. The students have been engaged in a variety of art forms in Westropp’s spacious gymnasium, including music & movement, the use of nylon body-sized stretchy bands to make geometric shapes, as well as drumming and rhythm, all to be demonstrated in the culminating performance, to be held this upcoming May.

     After being involved in arts education programming in the schools for almost 38 years, Mr. Evert has emerged as a prominent teaching artist and currently serves on the Ohio Arts Council’s roster of professional teaching artists. He is also a nationally credentialed teaching artist through Young Audiences, NY. To date, he has had 2 successful residencies on Cleveland’s West Side at Clara E. Westropp School of the Arts.

     The Ohio Arts Council (OAC) is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically. The Ohio Arts Council was created in 1965 to foster and encourage the development of the arts and to assist with the preservation of Ohio’s cultural heritage. With funds from the Ohio Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts, the OAC provides financial assistance through grant writing to artists and art organizations. Such funding supports artists and makes art activities available for a broad segment of the Ohio public, and it provides services that help to enhance the growth of the Arts. For more information on the Ohio Arts Council, please view www.OAC.ohio.gov.

     Mr. Evert currently serves as the Executive Director of DANCE EVERT, which he co-founded with his life-long partner Susana Weingarten Evert at Shore Cultural Centre in Euclid, Ohio, in 1986. He also serves as the primary teaching artist, choreographer, and performing artist. He holds both painting/sculpture and dance degrees from Ohio University. His critical acclaim as a professional performing artist developed while performing for the Paul Taylor Dance Company in New York City. He has toured extensively both nationally and internationally.

     Dance Evert’s mission, since its inception, has been to integrate the Arts into the schools and community through curriculum, professional and student development, arts advocacy, and performance. Mr. Evert’s vision is in the “transformational power and value of dance and art in our lives”. He continues to develop his noted educational STEM (or STEAM) programming, integrating the Arts with math and sciences. His renowned “Geometry in Motion”, “Forces in Motion”, and “Dancing with Worms” continue to be popular residency programs within the area public and private schools, and after-school library programs.

     Dance Evert continues to grow and expand its programming and staff. It recently launched the “ESPIRAL Community Dance Theatre”, held Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 to 8, at the historic Shore Cultural Centre auditorium stage in Euclid, Ohio, for all those community members interested in dance and theatre. Registration is on-going and currently open for all abilities and levels of training, ages 14-senior adult. Created and led by DANCE EVERT co-founder Susana Weingarten Evert, ESPIRAL is a unique and inclusive opportunity for those who have wanted to participate in dance training, informal studio showings, community events, and formal staged performances.

     For more information on DANCE EVERT, ESPIRAL Community Dance Theatre, and Mr. Tom Evert’s unique instructional approach, which integrates the art of dance and the core curriculum, please visit www.danceevert.org.