Danmari Ltd. is the umbrella organization for the New Jersey Center for Mime, Yass Hakoshima Movement Theater, and the Montclair Dance Center. It is a registered non-profit organization supporting both performance and education. The NJCenter for Mime is a registered provider with the NJ Dept. of Education, a professional development and teacher training facility. We provide the highest level of training for students of all ages, and offer award-winning performances around the world. We are supported by grants and by generous contributions from lovers of mime and dance. Your support would be greatly appreciated.

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Danmari Ltd.
239 Midland Avenue
Montclair, New Jersey 07042

MORE ABOUT DANMARI LTD

In addition to supporting the creation of new works for the Yass Hakoshima Movement Theatre, you will be supporting Danmari’s education programs that address learning on the sensory, somatic and conceptual level. Breaking Barriers Residencies familiarize rural and urban youngsters with the art of mime as a communication tool and introduces them to a professional theatrical setting, This program is currently presented throughout New jersey and in other states.

Prior to the residency, teachers receive a very explicit study guide containing  history of mime and how to use the film of Dream Journey  in the classroom to stimulate a variety of learning skills across the curriculum. Students view a DVD of Dream Journey  to gain familiarity with the art of mime and movement.

Mr. Hakoshima, the acclaimed and  accomplished mime/movement artist and teacher, then travels to the school with an assistant and presents a series of workshops on mime and movement enabling students to experience with their own bodies what they have learned through more conventional educational means (ie watching a video tape, listening to the teacher talk about mime). Following the workshops which are two to five days long, students gain a deeper appreciation of mime/movement as a creative art form by sometimes being transported by bus to a theatre where they come together as a community to experience an interactive performance in a professional setting. For many rural and inner city students, this is their first experience in a theatre.

When no performance venue is available, our program Mime is a Universal Language presents much of the same content as Breaking Barriers  completely within the school setting.    

The Importance of Mime/Movement in Education

Mime/Movement techniques and the accompanying sensitivity to non-verbal communication addresses an essential inequity in our current educational system. Much of our current school curriculums are focused on what John Gardner has identified as “verbal intelligence.” Non-verbal students as well as those for whom English is not their first language, have not been well served.

Danmari is committed to contributing to Ongoing Professional Development Workshops for teachers of Gifted and Talented students and teachers of English as a Second Language. These workshops focus on how teachers can encourage and teach their varied student populations to communicate with and better understand their peers and others by gaining a knowledge of body language as a means of expression. By providing students with enhanced communication skills, this program can help reduce tensions felt by the now marginalized, non- verbal  or non- English speaking students.

Danmari works with an educational specialist to combine the knowledge of mime and body movement with the latest methods of instruction to develop a model program that will improve the current educational system by addressing its verbal bias. These workshops can be  presented throughout New Jersey at schools and/or arts centers.

The content of the workshop is preserved in an instructional study guide on the art of Mime and Movement as teaching tool for teachers in elementary through high schools. The study guide demonstrates the techniques for understanding mime and movement as a universal language and learning to appreciate body language as a method of communication. It also shows Mr. Hakoshima's approach to introducing students to mime/movement techniques, helping them gain an appreciation of how knowledge of a theatrical art form can enrich their everyday lives.

Please contact us if you would like to learn more about our work and how you can help. Again we thank the many individuals and organizations who have helped us through donations and grants large and small.