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Inspire

Empower

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Our Education Mission at TADA! Youth Theater — Manhattan, NY

To provide innovative, engaging, accessible, and high-quality musical theater programming that educates, inspires, and empowers students regardless of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ability, nationality, and immigration status.

What Makes TADA! Youth Theater Unique

  • A leader in the arts education field for over 35 years with innovative and responsive programming that adapts to the evolving landscape of our community and world
  • Specializing in musical theater training and co-creating original work
  • Team-taught model with two Professional Teaching Artists in each class
  • Student-centered learning at the heart of our pedagogical practices
  • Commitment to develop, build, and foster social-emotional life skills
  • Offering year-round programming onsite for students of all ages and abilities
  • Providing in-school residencies and after-school programs where we integrate the arts with academic subjects or school core values for students pre-k through high school
  • Supporting, growing, and funding the mission of TADA! Youth Theater

"TADA! Here We Are!"

"The biggest thing in little kids, and BIG KIDS too!"

Our Values

We value creating high-quality, innovative, professional musical theater programs that inspire, transform, empower, challenge, and engage students from all over the world.

We value and commit to providing every interested child regardless of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ability, nationality, and immigration status, an affordable way to experience the joy of musical theater.  Learn more about our financial support options.

We value creating an environment that encourages and supports creativity. Through supportive methodology rooted in imagination, we see growth in students’ self-expression, risk-taking, and self-confidence.

We value an ensemble-based environment where students collaborate as a team and work together respectfully and creatively.  We want every student to feel safe to explore and express themselves and their identity. By exploring the depths of others and cultivating empathy, students find space for their true selves to shine.

We value and encourage students to share their voice and be heard.  We want our students to feel seen, heard, and learn to advocate for themselves.

We value creating a safe and supportive culture of growth where students feel empowered to take risks and explore their interests and identities at their own pace in order to grow into kind, empathetic human beings.

We value creating responsive programs that serve the changing needs of our students, families, and partners. We serve all ages and abilities, and engage our students with innovative, relevant, and authentic learning and programming.

We value sharing the joy and fun of musical theater with our students every day.

Our Unique Programming Sets Us Apart

For more than 35 years, TADA! has offered year-round classes and camps at our onsite location as well as in-school residencies and after-school programming in both public and private schools across New York City.

Musical theater and storytelling are the cornerstones of our work with young people. These art forms provide the foundation of our signature curricula, combining the process of exploring musical theater skills, the power of student voice, and the magic of performance!

We offer diverse curricula that vary by program and location, and we can also create custom curriculums to meet the needs of your community. Our two signature programs are our most popular:

  • Skill-building: This program balances the process of skills development in the areas of singing, dancing, and acting with the joy of musical theater. All classes culminate in a final sharing where students present musical numbers showcasing skills learned in the program from various Broadway hits and TADA! original productions in a cabaret-style showcase.
  • Playbuilding: This program combines musical theater training, storytelling, character development, and student voice. Using a show title as inspiration, students devise their own original mini-musical as an ensemble. All classes culminate in a final performance where students perform their very own mini-musical for a live audience.

All TADA! programs are based in ensemble-building techniques that facilitate an active, equitable, and inclusive learning environment where cooperative, personal, and creative growth are fostered in a structured and supportive setting. TADA! Education is rooted in the core belief that we are better together. 

Onsite Classes & Camps

No student is ever turned away because of their inability to pay!

Learn More

In-school Residencies & After-school Programs

Keep the arts alive at your school!

  • In-school Residencies
  • After-school Programs
  • One or Multi-day Workshops
Learn More

Our Incredible Teaching Artists

TADA! Teaching Artists are at the heart of our work; empowering, educating, and inspiring young people through the magic of musical theater. Every education program at TADA! provides two professional Teaching Artists; a Director/Choreographer and a Music Director that work together in a collaborative, team-taught model. Through our team-taught model, students see adult collaboration modeled in a creative environment and experience various approaches to the creative process. With two teachers in the space, students receive individualized attention tailored to their learning style and needs.

All of our Teaching Artists are highly-skilled musical theater artists and educators trained in TADA!’s pedagogy. Each year, we audition and interview the best of the best in NYC. Teaching Artists are evaluated using a responsive rubric based on our TADA! Teaching Artists Competencies. The competencies and rubric are reviewed yearly and evolve based on the programming needs for the fiscal year. Through this process, we ensure we are serving and supporting the changing needs of our students, schools, and department.

As an antiracist and multicultural organization, we value and amplify the voices, imaginations, knowledge, cultures, and leadership of black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). We are committed to hiring BIPOC Teaching Artists who align with our mission, vision, and department values. It’s important that our students work with mentors and role models that reflect the communities we serve.

Teaching Artists Competencies

  • Experience in delivering engaging teaching in the classroom
  • Commitment to planning thoughtful, enriching classes with their co-teacher
  • Bring positive, high energy into the classroom
  • Have exceptional classroom management
  • Experience teaching all ages and abilities
  • Have a strong understanding of age and developmentally appropriate activities and material
  • Ability to assess student ability, needs, and interest and adapt and scaffold to create a student centered classroom
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Highly trained and versatile musical theater artists that can create a strong process and product with students of all ages and abilities

Genuinely enjoy and actively participate in collaborating with your co-teacher and learning from others

Embrace and support a department that is committed to delivering responsive, innovative, relevant, and authentic programming that reflects our ever-changing world and communities we serve.

Make artistic choices that reflect the needs, interests, and goals of the students and amplify student voices and points of view.

Commit to continuous improvement and professional growth through self-reflection and constructive feedback.

Commit to a set schedule for classes, plan prior to class with their co-teacher, arrive on time, submit requested materials in a timely manner, communicate consistently with the education staff, and be a dedicated ambassador and champion of TADA! Youth Theater’s mission, vision, and values in person and online.

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