Kaufman Connections is a community engagement initiative, which provides dance classes to students at the 32nd Street Elementary School. The program brings the choreographic process with a focus on hip-hop to elementary school students through weekly, one-hour sessions of integrated dance instruction led by USC Kaufman BFA students. Alongside providing quality dance instruction, one of the key objectives of Kaufman Connections is to provide a cultural movement practice that will foster community, confidence and social-emotional learning for each child. The program aims to develop life skills that are naturally embedded into the process of dance-making and performance.

This program is made possible by generous funding from the following: USC’s Good Neighbors Campaign, a USC staff funded initiative which supports local community programs focusing on education, particularly in the neighborhoods surrounding USC’s downtown campus; American Dance Movement, a foundation dedicated to building healthy communities through dance by expanding access to dance and movement, educating about its benefits and inspiring generations of dance enthusiasts; and USC Arts in Action, a program under the USC Provost’s Arts and Humanities Initiative that supports USC arts activities that facilitate positive social change and enhance our collective quality of life within the community.