- heatherboni@live.com
- 775-225-8673
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Community
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Creative Aging
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Education
Heather Boni Lemmons
- Dance
Heather Boni Lemmons believes the arts inspire us, soothe us, provoke us, and connect us. As an accomplished arts educator, she has more than 17 years of experience teaching, collaborating, and leading inclusive education workshops, arts integration experiences, and community engagement projects in schools, senior centers, and community spaces.
Lemmons builds community through performing arts exploration and movement practices with the belief that “all bodies can dance." She received her Master of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography with specialized studies in Arts & Community Engagement at Florida State University. She is passionate about teaching inclusive dance strategies sharing unique and engaging ways to ignite a love of learning and moving in students, teachers, teaching artists, seniors, and community members. Her workshops are inclusive of all abilities and are curated to the specific interests and needs of participants.
Having worked with a variety of ages and abilities, Lemmons has served as an arts integration specialist (K–12) in Nevada, Idaho, and Florida, a 21st-century program director (K–5) serving students with and without disabilities, Osher of Life Long Learning Wellness instructor for seniors (ages 55+), a dance mentor for Opportunity Village working with adults with disabilities, a Wolf Trap teaching artist through the Kennedy Center, and a teaching artist and presenter for the Smith Center of the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, Nevada. She has been a lifelong advocate for arts integration for all abilities in education, professional dance practices, and community dance programs. She served as the choreographer of Shakespeare with Heart, working with mixed-ability high school performers; developed the New Plays, No Limits program in partnership with Orlando Repertory Theater and K-5 mixed-ability students; assisted AXIS Dance Company artistic director, Marc Brew, with the company’s integrated summer dance workshops and first Teacher Training Handbook; presented “Integrated Dance Strategies” at the PSA/ACA (Popular Culture Association) Conference; presented her short dance film “Invisible Playground” at Digitech Innovation Awards; and presented an inclusive dance documentary, Catharsis, throughout the United States. Currently, Lemmons works as the education manager at the Pioneer Center for Performing Arts in Reno, Nevada.
Lemmons is excited for the opportunity to bring students, teachers, seniors, nonprofit directors, and community members together through the performing arts to share our life-experiences and unique stories and celebrate differences through movement. She believes our greatest impact in K–12 education and creative aging is our ability to provide teachers, directors, and community members with quality integrated arts training, teaching skills, and resources to ensure that dance opportunities are accessible to everyone.
School & community workshops
*Feel free to reach out to Heather Boni Lemmons with any specific requests, other workshop topics of interest, or accommodations to workshops or professional development themes below. All workshops included below can be specialized for K-12 students, seniors and creative aging initiatives, special populations, mixed ability movers, and dementia- and neurodivergent-friendly. Workshop movement experiences can be requested as fully seated, in-motion, or a hybrid of both. Workshops can be held in classrooms, libraries, or community centers with small or large groups. No prior movement experience necessary. All Bodies Can Dance!
Classroom, Community, and Creative Aging Workshops:
Choreography Café: Welcome to the Choreography Café where tap-dancing waitress, Dana, serves the art of making dance, engaging in guided movement activities for all ages and abilities. Sampling from the “Movement Menu”, participants will gain insight into dance choreography and explore the use of shape, effort, rhythm, and props to create toe-tapping, joy sharing, “in your seat or on your feet” fun. Participants will explore new ways to move, stretch, and wake up their bodies in a safe, fun, and creative way. All bodies can dance—no prior movement experience is necessary to make a reservation at the Choreography Café!
All Bodies Can Dance!: Inclusive Arts Workshop: Participants will learn current integrated dance practices and inclusive teaching strategies for mixed-ability groups through hands-on, interactive movement exercises and reflective group discussions. Participants will participate in group improvisational exercises and develop their own lesson plans for different types of learners, using language, imagery, sounds, rhythms, and props. The objective of these exercises is to provide teachers, directors, and teaching artists with the skills and confidence to create a wider range of options for all movers and provide students with a richer experience during class.
Building Brave Space: Improvisational Explorations to Build Community, Compassion, and Teamwork: Not sure where to start to motivate your students or seniors to get moving? This interactive workshop implements safe, low-impact and adaptable movement experiences that will heighten self-awareness, empathy for others, visualization of different perspectives, critical thinking, inclusion, community, and deeper engagement in learning experiences. Participants will learn different ways to create a “brave” space for all ages and abilities to explore the joy of movement!
Tap for Seniors: Seniors will learn the basic techniques and rhythms of tap dancing. This fun, low-impact dance workshop can be enjoyed seated or upright. Participants will be invited to tap with their feet, hands, or props provided by the instructor. This class is for everyone! Let’s get moving and make some rhythms together! No tap shoes or prior experience necessary.
Professional Development Workshops:
Engaged Classrooms: Integrating Arts into Curriculum & Everyday Learning: This workshop will provide teachers and teaching artists with the tools to ignite excitement for learning and the confidence to mentor a new generation of innovative movers and thinkers. Participants will leave with engaging lesson plans and dance activities for different types of learners to improve body and spatial awareness, listening skills, imagery, visualization and recall skills. Lesson plans are linked to state standards and integrate a variety of subject areas.
Inclusive Arts: Best Practices in the Classroom: Participants will learn inclusive classroom design, including setting student expectations, room and student accommodations, and assistive device safety. Participants will investigate their own perceptions of “disability”, “inclusion”, and “building community through the arts” through analyzing inclusive language, access barriers and solutions, and creative expression.
Performing “ART” in STEAM: Participants will learn strategies and movement exercises through creative movement, improvisation, and choreography to integrate performing ARTS into a variety of curriculum areas including science, math, social studies/history, and social emotional learning principles.
Learning Literacy Through Locomotion: Turn your classroom into a 3D locomotion station! These movement explorations will provide participants with increased awareness of space and the ability to confidently move through space with others. Participants will work with partners to develop story maps as they move through the room. Movement phrases will link literacy and learning through basic dance terminology including copy, mirror, positive and negative space, levels, stillness, proximity, and gestures, as well as directional terms, rhythm and counting, and building musicality.
Other Classroom, Community, or Professional Development Topic Areas:
Arts Integration Training for Teachers, Staff, and Principals
Integrating Movement Into Your Non-Profit Events
Community Dance for All
Creating Engaging Movement Programs for Seniors of All Abilities
Ignite A Love of Learning Through The Performing Arts
