Kathleen Isaac

Kathleen Isaac is a licensed dance educator currently working at PS 165 in New York City and has been an instructor in the Master’s program at Teachers College, Columbia University, the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) at the 92nd Street Y, St. John’s University and Stavanger University in Norway.

Ms. Isaac was a contributing author of the New York City Department of Education Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Dance K-12 and a reviewer for a special supplement to the Blueprint, Dance Education for Diverse Learners. She is a member of DELTA, a team of dance professional developers to create and disseminate models of Blueprint-based curriculum for the New York City Department of Education and has worked with the NYCDOE to develop the Exit Exams for dance in NYC. She was In-State Editor for the New York State Assets 2000 Dance Commencement Level Assessment and a member of the Goals 2000 Dance Task Force for the New York State Department of Education.

She taught tap dancing at The Ailey School for fifteen years and authored Revelations – An Interdisciplinary Approach – a curriculum implemented by the Ailey organization in major cities across the U.S. and in London. She also authored Read My Hips® a K-12 Dance and Literacy Initiative for the Joffrey Ballet. She has been on faculty at the Dance Theatre of Harlem, and worked with DTH staff to structure the Firebird educational initiative in schools. Her work with dance students in public schools and The Ailey School has been featured in the New York Times, Dance Magazine, Dance Teacher, NBC News, CNN and Bravo. Her PS 165 Dance Company has performed at Lincoln Center, The Apollo Theater and City Center, most recently performing the work of Twyla Tharp. In 2008, her students were the only dancers invited by Mayor Bloomberg to perform at the State of the City address. Ms. Isaac holds a BA in Dance from SUNY Brockport, an MA in Dance from NYU and has done post graduate work at Teachers College, Columbia University and at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Education.

She is very happy to work with Doug on Kids Make Hip Hop and other projects where childrens’ interest in dancing and social media are combined and explored in a number of exciting ways.

Doug Fox

Doug Fox is an Internet and technology writer, speaker and consultant with a focus on dance and the performing arts. Doug created one of the first dance blogs, Great Dance, in 2005. His blog and consulting are focused on helping dancers, dance companies and other artists embrace the Internet in creative and productive ways.

Starting in the early 1990s, Doug offered Internet and technology consulting in the meeting and hospitality industry. He has conducted over one hundred educational seminars in the United States and other countries, and has written extensively about all aspects of computers, technology and the online world. Twice Doug was recognized by Meeting News magazine as one of the Top 25 People in the meeting industry for his technology-focused educational contributions.

At the age of 42, Doug started to take dance classes (Jazz, Modern, Ballet, West African and other styles) and began to combine his passion for dance with his background in the Internet and technology.

Doug is equally delighted to be collaborating with Kathleen on the Kids Make Dance project as we explore new and engaging approaches to empowering children of all ages to combine their excitement for dance and digital technologies.

Doug received his B.A. from Vassar College in 1984.

Carlos a.k.a “Iron Man” Cordova

Guest teacher, Carlos a.k.a. “Iron Man” Cordova’s individual approach to teaching hip hop combines his dance background with a university degree in Fitness. His technique has been most influenced by mentors Kwik Step and Rokafella from Full Circle Soul Productions and Ken Swift from the Rock Steady Crew. He’s currently a member of Souljerz Crew.

His focus in teaching technique to children is “safety first!” As a basis for his work he uses eight basic skills scaffolded with three progressions. As each skill is performed safely and accurately, a new one is added, enabling the students to create a variety of combinations appropriate to their skill level.