About Tracy Straus
New York, NY
Tracy Straus (CBA ’15) is founder and Artistic Director of “Celebrate the Beat” (CTB), the Colorado associate of National Dance Institute (NDI). Motivated by the belief that the arts have the unique power to help children discover their potential, CTB currently partners with 30 schools throughout Colorado and in Nayarit, Mexico, inspiring 4,000 children a year. As an arts consultant, Ms. Straus has worked to develop multicultural arts programs for schools across the USA and in Mexico and India and is an Artistic Associate with NDI. Tracy is currently a member of National Arts Strategies’ Chief Executive Program: Community and Culture. She holds an MA from Bank Street College of Education, and a BA from the University of Michigan and was an associate producer of the Broadway productions Spring Awakening and American Idiot.
Celebrate the Beat
Using the extraordinarily engaging, motivating and inspiring teaching techniques and curriculum started by Jacques d’Amboise, Straus’s goal was to expand the reach of this pedagogy. The Center is an ideal place to research the healing aspects of dance and music, prepare curriculum that is clear and accessible for other teachers to use, and create a socially conscious road map for how to reach the broadest audience.