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Dancing Through Literacy

June 27, 2025

What makes Vero Beach special?

According to Debbi Arseneaux, an Arts Integration Specialist with The Learning Alliance, it’s the strong connections that community members and local organizations form through initiatives like the Moonshot Community Action Network (MCAN), a community leadership program sponsored by The Learning Alliance with over 125 members committed to working together to achieve the Moonshot goal of 90% literacy by the end of third grade.

She would know. Debbi had already been working with SDIRC teachers on incorporating movement and art into literacy instruction for over five years when Adam Schnell, Artistic Director/CEO of Ballet Vero Beach, joined MCAN. Adam was looking to improve literacy rates for local students and to introduce more people to dance. He knew the power of dance and movement to tell stories, and he knew that introducing young students to dance early on would inspire a lifelong love of knowledge. Debbi knew that integrating theatre arts with literacy, math, and history classes makes education better for students. MCAN brought the two together to utilize the power of integrating arts into education, and they formed a mutually beneficial partnership.

Stage to Page was born.

A Look Behind the Curtain

Repurposing Ballet Vero Beach’s already existing Arts Access Student Matinee Program, which helps students attend ballet performances for free, Debbi and Adam built a one-of-a-kind experience that ties dance to literacy. Stage to Page launched in 2020, providing 1st-grade students with a high-quality program despite the challenges COVID presented. Since then, the program has expanded to include 3rd- and 5th-grade students. This year, 1,629 students in 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade across 13 elementary schools participated. This included 160 teachers, too.

As the program has grown, more dancers have been recruited through Ballet Vero Beach’s Fellowship Initiative for Dancers to meet the increased demand from schools.

Act 1

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Stage to Page is a three-part program, with each participating grade’s experience catered to what they are learning in school and to skills their schools have identified for reinforcement. It begins in the classroom. First-grade students study “The Sleeping Princess,” a unique adaptation of “Sleeping Beauty” that helps build vocabulary and knowledge about story structure. Third-grade students study “Firebird,” a story written in partnership by Camilo Rodriguez, Ballet Master, and Debbi, and learn about storytelling through multiple perspectives. Fifth-grade students study the set of sonnets that inspired Vivaldi to compose “The Four Seasons,” which helps them learn how figurative language and poetry can interact with music and movement to tell moving stories.

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At the same time, Ballet Vero Beach performers are in classrooms of their own. They are learning and rehearsing the dances that will give their characters depth and weave together stories. They are also receiving enriched literacy training from Debbi and The Learning Alliance on how to connect movement to education, strategies for teaching and engaging students, and other student success skills. Once they have finished training, they work with Debbi and classroom teachers to strengthen the literacy skills children have been learning through movement.
“A lot of our dancers are here to continue their love for performing while pursuing other careers,” said Adam. “The skills they learn through this partnership will translate to all their career and life goals. I’ve seen the ‘aha’ moments from their first workshop, when it finally clicks and they not only understand their dance students better, but also understand themselves and each other better.”

Act 2

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Dancers then bring the stories studied to life through a professional ballet performance.

“The moment the 1st-graders walked into the theater for the first time, right after COVID, they were just amazed,” said Debbi. “They kept saying, ‘this is the best day of my life.’ For many of them, this is the first time they’ve seen a live performance.”

While students receive etiquette training ahead of the performance, Adam and Debbi agree that there’s nothing better than the honest and unreserved engagement of a younger audience.

“Adults are often quieter and feel more uncomfortable doing things like clapping during the performance,” added Adam. “One of my favorite memories is of one of our first performances, when we were about three-fourths of the way through the ballet, and the entire cast had just entered the stage and struck a pose for the wedding scene. The theatre just erupted in applause. I remember thinking, ‘this is why I got into dance.’”

Act 3

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In the weeks after the ballet, the performers visit each classroom to bring the experience full circle for students. They teach some of the dancing techniques used in the performance, connecting them back to the books or poetry that the students studied and building on their literacy skills.

“It was really fun coming back into the classroom after the performance and hearing the students’ really strong discussions,” said Debbi. “It’s also great to have this chance to connect with teachers that I don’t work with on a regular basis.”

Closing Remarks

Stage to Page proves that partnerships across community organizations can be mutually beneficial. They can be powerful and positively impact all who participate in them.

“We all have a part to play,” said Debbi. “Everyone has something valuable, and organizations don’t need to give up their unique role to contribute to the bigger picture. MCAN helps us create partnerships that are mutually beneficial, for a longer-lasting impact.”

Learn more about : How Moonshot Academy Helps Students Read.  

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