SCHOOL BREAK 2026

CREATE COUNCIL ON THE ARTS presents FREE SCHOOL BREAK DANCE & ART PROGRAM during spring break.
Co-sponsored by the Greene County Youth Bureau, Catskill Public Library & CCSD

KIDS CREATE – FREE PROGRAM
SCHOOL BREAK MOVEMENT & ART

APRIL 6-9, 2026
9:30 AM – 2:00 PM

FREE! – Register for one or multiple days. This program is free but pre-registration is required.

CATSKILL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL “CAFETORIUM”
770 Embought Rd, Catskill, NY 12414

SNACKS PROVIDED STUDENTS BRING THEIR OWN LUNCH

April 6 – MONDAY (GRADES K-2)
CAPOEIRA PLAY + MUSIC w/ Tagan
Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian dance form that facilitates play. The practicing of it centers joy and movement through music. The performing of it is not called fighting or dance but PLAY. Students will play  Afro Brazilian percussion instruments as well as call and response songs. Music also includes the Agogo (cowbell), Pandeiro ( similar to tambourine), the recu recu, a conga drum and the berimbau.

April 7 – TUESDAY (GRADES K-2)
CREATIVE MOVEMENT + ART w/ Jude + Coryn
In the morning students will participate in a group warm up before reading a story together. Students will explore movement inspired by the book, and will include various movement elements of level, direction, pathway, speed, etc. Students will create a dance using their findings from the exploration and will perform for each other. Other explorations in the class will include mirroring, freeze dance, and other movement based games. 
In the afternoon we shift to movement and art. This workshop is a layered conversation between dance movement and art. Art materials will reflect how our bodies manipulate shapes, respond to various movement prompts about sculpture & imagination, with multiple mediums. Students will feel like they are dancing within their own art works, by creating inspired imagery of lines, circles, zig zags and so much more!

April 8 – WEDNESDAY (GRADES 3-6)
CREATIVE MOVEMENT + ART w/ Jude + Coryn
In the morning students will participate in a group warm up before reading a story together. Students will explore movement inspired by the book, and will include various movement elements of level, direction, pathway, speed, etc. Students will create a dance using their findings from the exploration and will perform for each other. Other explorations in the class will include mirroring, freeze dance, and other movement based games. 
In the afternoon we shift to movement and art. This workshop is a layered conversation between dance movement and art. Art materials will reflect how our bodies manipulate shapes, respond to various movement prompts about sculpture & imagination, with multiple mediums. Students will feel like they are dancing within their own art works, by creating inspired imagery of lines, circles, zig zags and so much more!

April 9 – THURSDAY (GRADES 3-6)
CAPOEIRA PLAY + MUSIC w/ Tagan
Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian dance form that facilitates play. The practicing of it centers joy and movement through music. The performing of it is not called fighting or dance but PLAY. Students will play  Afro Brazilian percussion instruments as well as call and response songs. Music also includes the Agogo (cowbell), Pandeiro ( similar to tambourine), the recu recu, a conga drum and the berimbau.

TEACHING ARTISTS

Jude Kurjan-Frank (she/her) is a dance educator, choreographer, and performer in the Catskills/Mid-Hudson Valley region. She holds an MA in Dance Education from New York University and a BA in Dance from the University of Maryland, College Park. As a certified PK-12 dance educator, Jude taught in New York City and Baltimore CIty Public Schools as well as studios, libraries, and other community based locations. She is also a Certified Movement Analyst through the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies and a certified yoga teacher, with additional certification in prenatal yoga (RYT-200, RPYT). Jude trained in Cecchetti ballet, jazz, tap, and contemporary modern, performing with many amazing choreographers and companies including Nejla Yatkin, Nicole Bradley Browning, Maurice Fraga, Deborah Damast, Renata Celichovska, and Douglas Dunn. She was a founding member of IsadoraNOW, a member of Effervescent Collective and a co-creator of Flux/us Dance Company. She danced and choreographed for the Baltimore Rock Opera Society, as well as music videos for artists such as Bosley, Mrs. Maki, and Patterson Trash. Jude currently teaches Contemporary Modern and Choreolab at Barefoot Dance Center in West Park, NY, and Moovin’ and Groovin’ Story Time at the Woodstock Public Library. 

Coryn Nadeau Coryn is an experienced SEL & art educator, as well as a licensed & board-certified art therapist with over 2 decades in the field.  Coryn is a mom of 2 and has taught art locally at Woodstock Elementary, Middle Way School, Department of Things, Queen of Rogues Galley & D.R.A.W. Studios. She has written national arts curriculums and programs & has collaborated with Broadway, Pepperdine University & Coca-cola! With all of her arts classes, she centers process over product expression, curiosity, & creative exploration.

Taganyahu Swaby is a Contramestre of Capoeira Angola and an Eastern Medicine practitioner. Tagan has practiced Capoeira Angola for more than two decades. Originally from Jamaica, Tagan first began training Capoeira Angola in Bahia, Brazil in 2000. Tagan founded the group Grupo Capoeira de Angola do Acupe Brooklyn (formerly known as Angoleiros do Brooklyn) in 2009 and has created, directed, and participated in capoeira rodas and presentations including for Brooklyn Museum, BAM Dance Africa, Odunde Festival in Philadelphia, and the Brooklyn African Street Festival. From 2007-2017 Tagan taught Capoeira Angola to inner city youth all over the five boroughs grades 3rd-12th through after school programs. He lives and works in Catskill, NY.

Marcus McGregor – Program Director
Marcus began studying ballet at The Hartford School of Ballet at the age of 13. Marcus was a company member with both Dance Theatre of Harlem for 7 years and Feld Ballet for 7 years.
For the last 10 years, Marcus has taught Ballet at Hudson Valley Academy of Performing Arts where his students perform Nutcracker annually and for the last 8 years, Marcus has taught ballet at Creative Studio in Coxsackie, New York. Marcus has taught dance throughout the Greene County school systems in his role as Education Director at the Petronio Residency Center. Marcus also teaches Master Class for various dance schools throughout the Hudson Valley and Catskills.
He continues to create and perform, most recently featured with Dan Safer’s “The History of Empires”.