What We Do Matters

From my experience as a dance maker, teacher, and social change activator, I know that movement, the arts, and performance have something fundamentally important to offer our understanding of humanity and the world.

Communicating through our bodies, through our senses, and through our intellect and spirit gives us access to growth and awareness that otherwise might not be possible.

And our understanding of the world and how we can contribute to it expands.

At JDPP, this expansion of understanding is a foundational value.

In a world where truth is increasingly and dismayingly invented rather than objectively real, we at JDPP are and have always been committed to presenting evidence that supports the premises on which our work is based.

We have been working with outside evaluator, Dr. Anita Baker, since 2017 to assess all our programming with follow-up questionnaires that are analyzed and that give us an idea of what is working and what is not.

These data can be compared from program-to-program and year-to-year and give the voices of our program participants and audiences centrality in our planning. It is critical to us that these voices be heard. And we listen and adapt accordingly.

This data tells us that we are reaching our participants across the board and over time:

• That the majority of the justice-involved women and men in our programs report becoming more expressive, aware, having new found trust and empathy and better parenting and performance skills
• That the children participating in our Hartford schools programs feel a growth in community, the joy of movement, an appreciation of the arts, and improved engagement in school confirmed by their teachers as well
• And that audiences at JDPP performances have consistently positive responses to the content and artistic approach and affirm the effectiveness of the work in inspiring social justice

As we move into 2025, after an election that has left many of us breathless, the evidence shows unequivocably that what we do works.

And that matters. In these times more than ever.

This link will take you to a brief summary of Anita’s findings.