Imagine if instead of losing the attention of your students during every transition, they were captivated, cooperative, and building their creativity?


Or that you had the perfect solution to keep your cool with the student who really gets on your nerves? 


Or that you could put an end to the endless “cleaning” of dances. 


Guess what? That’s totally possible for you. How do I know?


Because those are real-life results I got once I mastered the foundations for a cooperative dance classroom.  


Once upon a time, I was a little girl who loved to dance. 

As I got older that love only grew deeper, and in high school I had the opportunity to start choreographing dances on my friends for the school performance. I knew the steps, I had the vision, and all they wanted to do was socialize. I tried being “the boss”. I tried being mean. And I tried yelling. But no one took me seriously and we were making zero progress in rehearsals. 

One day, my dance teacher mentioned (somewhat casually) that I might get my dancers to cooperate better if I stopped yelling at them. Ummm… what? This seemed completely counter-intuitive to me but I tried it… and it worked! 

From there I set off on a journey learning methods for collaboration, community building, empowerment, and personal accountability. 

Now, with over 15 years of experience as a dance educator, I use all of those tools to minimize chaos and frustration so that my experiences in the classroom are filled with joy and dancing. 

That is why I created The Empowered Childhood Dance Educator, so I could share everything I know about creating a cooperative classroom with YOU!

What makes this program special?


Have you ever experienced this:

You walk into the classroom, ready to teach the movement. Then class ends and you are exhausted from all the time you spent starting over for latecomers, repeating instructions for unmotivated students, waiting for dancers to line up/stop running/use the prop correctly, and on and on and on. You say goodbye to the last kid and think “well that wasn’t fun for anyone.”

I have been there. But teaching dance doesn’t have to be filled with moments that make you want to pull the plug on the stereo and send everyone off for a limitless water break. 

In The Empowered Childhood Dance Educator you’ll learn:

  • The 3 things you need to know before you set foot in the classroom (hint: it has NOTHING to do with technique)
  • The key ingredient to setting achievable career goals 
  • 3 strategies for handling student behavior that bugs you
  • How to re-define discipline to build trust & respect with your students
  • Simple shifts to what you say & do to keep students focused and engaged
  • The powers and pitfalls of praise 


Sound just like the thing you need to cancel chaos and embrace empowerment in your dance classroom? Then I have just the thing for you!


Introducing...


The Empowered Childhood Dance Educator



 The Empowered Childhood Dance Educator is an in-depth program covering everything you need to know to create a cooperative classroom environment. 


You’ll learn how to create a classroom experience that brings YOU joy using practical teaching strategies and tools for self awareness.


But most importantly, you’ll learn how to stop wasting precious dance time on managing undesired student behaviors and end your classes on a high note - feeling energized & empowered by your love of dance… and knowing your students feel the same way. 

This program was originally created for the Hubbard Street Chicago Teaching Artists. Here’s what their Lead Teaching Artist, Anne Kasdorf had to say:


“Thank you SO very much for your time and expertise this fall. During our faculty meeting a couple weeks ago I asked for feedback on these sessions, and the reviews were absolutely glowing. It's such a gift for our emerging [Teaching Artists] to be able to examine their practice in both the abstract and practical sense, and your sessions delivered both." 


Here’s everything you’ll learn inside

The Empowered Childhood Dance Teacher













What parents are saying about my classes:


“Ms. Jen is trained to teach what she’s teaching, and trained to teach and understand children of different ages.” ~ Nicole G.


“We LOVE Miss Jen's classes! They are full of creativity and movement and the kids always enjoy it so much! I'm so glad we found a dance teacher with such thoughtful techniques. Soul Centered Movement is awesome.” ~Ashlie M.

How does this program work?


What am I signing up for? The Empowered Childhood Dance Educator is a comprehensive online program teaching you simple, practical tools to restructure your approach to common classroom challenges and create a teaching career you love. 

When are the classes? The Empowered Childhood Dance Educator contains 6 pre-recorded lessons. As soon as your registration is complete you'll receive an email to create your account and gain immediate access to the course materials. Each lesson is about 45-60 minutes in length and you’ll have access to the recording for the lifetime of the course. 

Who teaches it? Me 👋 I’m Jen Cleary and I’m a creative dance educator. For over 15 years I’ve been making small, simple shifts to my approach to teaching to create a more enjoyable and empowering classroom experience. I’m talking less frustration and more fun! Now, I’ve bottled up everything I know about classroom cooperation, goal setting, and building trust in this in-depth training so you too can end overwhelm in your classroom and return to the joys of movement. 

What else do I need to know? Your pass to The Empowered Childhood Dance Educator includes:

  • 6 pre-recorded workshops containing everything you need to know to ditch “discipline” and calm the chaos with strategies that FEEL good.
  • Access to the video recordings and slides for the lifetime of the course.
  • BONUS: 6 Mindfulness in Motion exercises to align your body & soul for teaching (one for each lesson of the series) 






Ready to spend less time managing your classroom so you can focus on the movement?


Join The Empowered Childhood Dance Educator and discover everything you need to to minimize chaos and maximize personal satisfaction in the classroom 



The Empowered Childhood Dance Educator is perfect for you if…

  • You’re tired of losing your students’ attention during every class transition
  • You feel like you’re “jumping through hoops” to get students to listen
  • You love dance and you love teaching and you know there could be more joy for everyone in your classes… if only they weren’t running circles around you.
  • You are a children’s dance teacher 
  • You want to break the cycle of shaming, authoritarian dance environments, but don’t know how
  • You want to end every class feeling like you’ve made a positive impact on your students
  • You want to feel successful in your teaching career - regardless of student behavior/achievement
  • You are invested in building up your students as people first and dancers second.
  • You believe there is so much more to be learned in a dance class than new moves
  • You want an online learning experience that fits your schedule AND has built in support.


On the other hand, you might want to skip this if…

  • You are not a children’s dance educator
  • You don’t have any challenges with classroom management
  • Online learning is not your jam

Testimonials from my READ it and LEAP workshop teaching how to turn picture books into dance activities:



"So many incredibly useful takeaways. I appreciated the articulation of why these methods are effective and the nuance and thought that [Jen] expressed about each element of curriculum design." - Anne K.


"I really enjoyed READ it and LEAP. As someone who uses picture books in my class, it was nice to gain some insight into how another dance educator organizes their ideas. I really appreciated how thoughtful Jen is about connecting the story to specific dance elements. I would recommend this workshop to dance teachers in all settings." - Gina S.


"I am inspired to incorporate movement/dance in ALL of my K-5 library classes--and I feel equipped with the tools to do it! I also think it is amazing to be able to lead students in exploring movement concepts within the context of stories... it really deepens the learning." - Katie T.

Ready to be empowered in your leadership as an educator? 


Join The Empowered Childhood Dance Educator and discover everything you need to foster reliability, respect, critical thinking, and self-sufficiency in your students.



$97



Frequently Asked Questions 




How long will this take?

About 60-90 minutes per lesson. The course is made up of 6 lessons. You will be able to implement the strategies from each lesson with about 5-15 minutes of “homework”. 


Will this be useful if I only teach child & caregiver classes?

Yes. This course teaches tools for self-awareness, setting boundaries, and creating healthy relationships with students, caregivers, colleagues and administrators. The workshops will primarily give examples that relate to drop-off classes, but can easily be adapted to work with other class situations.


What if I don’t learn anything new?

The goal of the course is share strategies to create a more empowering, joy-filled experience in the classroom. If you’ve done the course and honestly feel like you’ve had no “a-ha” moments or shifts in your teaching, let me know within 30 days of your purchase and I will issue you a full refund. 


I’ve got another question.

Great! Send me an email at jen AT soulcenteredmovement DOT com. 

That feeling when you're teaching a class that goes smoothly... where the dancers are having a blast and you're working your magic - flowing from one activity to the next and everyone is dancing and experimenting with new movements and refining their skills...

That feeling is AMAZING!

I want you to have that experience all the time.

But I also know that tricky situations are impossible to avoid completely and that having a handful of key skills can make all the difference. I've poured my soul into this program and am sharing everything I know about how to make the dance classroom the most fun (and best learning environment) it can be.

Let's work together so you're prepared for the challenges before you even walk into your classroom - and can quickly handle them and get back to the fun of dancing.



Ready to end class saying “WOW! That was so fulfilling!"


Join The Empowered Childhood Dance Educator and start transforming your teaching experience in less than 10 hours!