What We Do.

Our Organization

 

The Mission at LWDA

  

Our Mission is to positively impact our community, so that Black Children and Families, as well as Families from various cultural backgrounds, become specialists in critical thinking via a strong academic, historical and culturally astute foundation; utilizing the vehicle of Dance. We will also fortify individuals with accurate Nutritional research, as part of our Programs, in order to prepare healthful, life-long wellness decision making through education in Ingredient Literacy and Caloric Balance. We will utilize and employ our over 30 years of Dance acumen, and over 22 years of Teaching proficiency, as well as the core principals rooted in Commandment Keeping, which will directly instill: morality, integrity, respect, accountability, trustworthiness, empathy, logical thinking and fellowship; as well as remarkable and perspicacious technical performing arts qualifications.

 

Holding Ourselves Accountable

We accomplish our Mission through our unique LWDA Innovative Arts Education© Curriculum, which, over the past 10 years, has gained acclaim across three different States in the U.S., for its effective and top-notch delivery of Cross-Disciplinary Applicaitions of Dance and Academics. We engage in positive collaborative business and School District Partnerships, connect through Guest Artist Workshops, Performance Presentations, Service Learning Projects, and our vigorous Rules Of Healthy Practice© Nutrition Education Program. LWDA is comprised of people who joyfully share their artistic passion, while actively striving to support and improve their communities.

 

LWDA’s Contribution to our Community

Arts Education is important to people of all ages. Building well-rounded coping skills and creative capacity into the youth ensures that we are making a positive investment into the people of tomorrow.

 

Access to Dance Education allows people to:

  • Be exposed to various cultures which give them the opportunity to realistically orient themselves in the world.

  • Develop strong communication skills including: transmitting ideas in writing, speaking with clarity, listening dynamically, and discerning analytically.

  • Build a capacity of empowerment to express ideas, emotions and opinions, with confidence that they will be heard and considered valid.

  • Increase their aptitude to solve problems and make choices that increases independence, resourcefulness, and the capability to be accountable.

  • Live a fuller and more involved life due to positive social interaction.

  • Live a more active healthy life due to positive metabolism and educated choices about food consumption.

  • Take responsibility for their own lives and decisions by choosing to use their art to enhance their academic intelligence.

 These basic foundations build an individual’s ability to cultivate skills for living and working and therefore contribute more fully to community health and development.

  

A Brief History of LWDA

The Leah Willis Dance Arts Performance and Innovative Arts Company provides all-inclusive performing arts education and programming, residencies, lecture demonstrations, team-building seminars, entrepreneurial mentorship and full production events for K-12 schools, businesses and the communities we serve. The youth, as well as anyone with a creative passion, should be nurtured in order for them to feel secure in expressing their world-changing attributes, and LWDA seeks to be a mentor in helping them to do just that. By providing cross-disciplinary applications of dance, academics and technology, innovative and efficient business synergy techniques and more, LWDA is a leader in the provision of programming in the Arts that enhances learning aptitudes, and divulges practical career competency skills.

 

LWDA started with a dream in 2001, when the C.E.O., Ms. Willis, was a high school student and member of a professional dance company called the Jefferson Dancers in Portland, Oregon. The amazing experience she had touring, performing and learning from seasoned choreographers inspired her greatly, and helped to fuel her dream of running a professional company of her own, where people would get to experience what she was fortunate enough to. Leah Willis Dance Arts was officially founded on August 6, 2009, and granted its 501(c) 3 Tax Exempt Status on March 18, 2010. Ms. Willis' passion was driven most urgently by the fact that vast amounts of funding has been cut out of the budgets for Arts programs at public schools that benefit a child’s entire being. Thus, LWDA sought to be a formidable bridge to help remedy this problem, keeping the Arts and schools together in harmony.                                      

 

Ms. Willis earned her Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix in 2010, which has helped fuel her drive for positive change and to garner access to these programs for the youth in a practical and professional manner. She earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Dance from California State University, Long Beach, and her Associate in Arts Degree in Liberal Arts/Dance Concentration with Honors, from Santa Monica College. Ms. Willis has been dancing since the age of 5. She's been teaching and choreographing Dance performances for students ages 3 to adult since the age of 14. Her experience has culminated into the belief that: "discipline, hard work, integrity and honesty together with creativity, inspiration, artistic expression and passion, are the ingredients that, if mixed well, will create the most well-rounded, intuitive, savvy, intelligent and prosperous generation of young people the world has yet to see."