PEEK OUTREACH PROGRAMS

PEEK Outreach Programs

Diablo Ballet’s PEEK Outreach Programs (Performing Arts Education & Enrichment for Kids), are the only arts education programs of their kind offered by a professional dance company in the Bay Area. The PEEK Outreach Program provides in-school creative movement curriculum designed to teach students to express their feelings through movement and teamwork. The PEEK Extension Program works with teenage girls incarcerated in the Juvenile Justice System in Martinez and adolescents at the Behavioral Health Inpatient Unit at John Muir Hospital in Concord. Both programs allow youth & teens the creative tools to utilize dance, body language and facial expressions, as a means of coping with situational challenges and to enhance mental, emotional and physical well-being.  

PEEK, which is based on the California Visual and Performing Arts Standards, has reached over 68,000 under-served children and at-risk teens since 1995. The curricula has been endorsed by federal, state and local policy-makers, including the State Assembly for “Successfully imparting inspiring young people to become actively involved in all that life has to offer.” It’s goals are for students to develop self-esteem by expressing their emotions and experiences through original movement (body language and facial expression); build soft skills such as self-confidence and an increased sense of courage by cooperating with others and working in a group to present a story that has a beginning, middle, and an end, using creative movement rather than words; learn and develop hard skills such as problem-solving, compromise, and positive communication through physical activity and working together in teams.

Adopt-a-Class Program

PEEK’s Adopt-a-Class Program is a rare gift to children, as the Artistic Director and dancers – whose teaching experience is extraordinary – work directly with the students in underserved elementary school classrooms in twelve sequential sessions, guiding them in using original movement to communicate their feelings. Also included in the curriculum is a field trip to a Diablo Ballet matinee performance for children, where they have the opportunity to meet and mingle with the costumed dancers following the program. The Artistic Director meets with each educator prior to the school year, to customize the Ballet’s sessions. PEEK provides a safe environment to express emotions in movement – strengthening student’s confidence and self-esteem.