AATE 2025 National Conference

New York City Center, home of the Tony-honored Encores! series and the Fall for Dance Festival, has played a defining role in the cultural life of the city since 1943. For the past three years, City Center has purposefully expanded its programming in Education & Community Engagement, more than doubling its reach to over 500 classrooms, 50 community sites, and 25,000 learners of all ages. During this session we will shine a light on City Center’s approach to serving historically underrepresented communities, building deep and sustainable partnerships, and how leading as internal change agents propelled our successful growth. City Center’s guiding values of curiosity, accessibility, inclusivity, and collaboration will serve as a backdrop for how we might all better serve our communities and create broader impact in learning and engagement work. And the excavated best practices, surprising discoveries, and unexpected setbacks we encountered will set the stage for an in-depth, hands-on experience focused on the journey of your performing arts center, classrooms and community spaces as you chart your own path toward successful expansion of the good work you do.