Anima Arts partners with community organizations with shared values through residencies, workshops and collaborative programming. We are currently booking events for 2023. Contact us to bring Anima Arts into your community.
Programming Unique to You
We strive the contribute to the goals, needs, and objectives of the families, children, and organizations we work with. Our curriculum is adaptive and evolving to best contribute to the children in your life. Do you have a subject, health goal, curiosity you’d like to explore through dance and movement? We’ll create a lesson plan or event just for you. Please help us learn more about your needs with our Anima Arts Community Needs Questionnaire.
Recent Partnerships & Residences
Winter 2023-Present: Longmont Public Library Free community creative movement classes for children and families with health and wellness topics including nutrition, the physiology of emotions, anatomy, celebrating physical differences, environmental action and nature’s wisdom.
Winter 2023-Present: Imagine! Boulder County
Anima Arts provides seasonal movement and dance classes for teen and young adult participants of Imagine! programming. Imagine! provides support services to people with intellectual and physical disabilities and diversity. Learn more at imaginecolorado.org
Winter 2022-Present: Mother House Bi-weekly classes with family dance, art and music classes in partnership with Kristel Brown and Parlando School of Music. Mother House supports mothers and their babies with a nurturing, supportive, and empowering residential community. Learn more at mother-house.org
October 2022 & February 2023 : Creative Kids at Climate Action Sunday (City of Longmont)
Kids and families explored our connections to the Earth through creative movement games and art projects taking inspiration from water, seeds, composting, transportation and connecting our senses to the natural world.
Fall 2022-Present: Longmont Recreation Classes and Events
In partnership with the Longmont Recreation Center Anima Arts offers outdoor and indoor movement classes, family dance parties and kids’ night out events centered on health and wellness themes.
October 2022: Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds Kids’ Concert with Jeff & Paige
Sponsored by Boulder County Public Health this event featured live performances, free produce and interactive booths and activities relevant to kids’ health, outdoor activities and environmental sustainability. Anima Arts facilitated parachute movement games related to vagal tone and physical tools for regulation during stress responses. Look for us at Boulder Creek Fest with Jeff & Paige.
Spring 2022-Present: Spark Discovery Preschool
Anima Arts, in partnership with faculty coordinator Nicky Willis, offered performing arts education to PK students over five weeks for their drama and theatre unit. Mimi and the students explored storytelling through movement, voice, music and stage craft to ignite imaginations and support artistic expression. Spark Discovery is a public school located in Frederick, Colorado with comprehensive preschool & childcare programming for 400 children in the St. Vrain Valley School District.
Our Spark! partnership continues January-April 2023 with ten weeks of family creative movement classes for students, caregivers and siblings. These classes were provided at no cost to families through the generous sponsorship of the SPARK! PTO Team.
I cannot say enough positive things about Ms. Mimi! Our preschool classes adored her! Ms. Mimi was fun, creative, patient, and wonderful with our preschool friends. She brought so much spirit, imagination, and personality to her practice, sharing an engaging drama class with us! Thank you, Ms. Mimi! We would love to have you back and would highly recommend you!
Sydney Albers- Spark Faculty
My students LOVED Ms. Mimi. Some of them came to school saying, “Today is drama class!” with great excitement for the second and third classes. The children actively participated in her activities and genuinely enjoyed her teaching. It was a nice break for me as a teacher to follow and model instead of lead activities. I believe my students learned a lot, and I did too! Her classes helped me plan our class performance and gave me some great ideas that I had not considered. I hope we get to have her back again next year!
Amy Newsom- Spark Faculty
Winter 2022-Present: Mackintosh Academy Boulder
Anima Arts founder Mimi Ferrie spent winter residencies offering creative movement and dance instruction to over one hundred K-8th graders. Partnering with physical education and performing arts faculty at Mackintosh, Anima Arts designed curriculum exploring themes in anatomy, tempo and rhythm, levels, dynamics and relationships. Students were introduced to a variety of dance styles including hip hop forms, contemporary, improvisation, ballet, vernacular, tap, salsa, West African, Bollywood and more. Mackintosh Academy in Boulder, Colorado is the area’s premier independent, International Baccalaureate (IB) World School for gifted and creative kindergarten through eighth grade students. Mack Boulder is committed to inspiring motivated learners through its core mission tenets: Keen Minds, Compassionate Hearts, and Global Action. Learn more about Mackintosh Academy Boulder HERE
Mimi was so wonderful to have working with my students. She spoke in respectful language, reaching all the students. She made it fun and creative.
Mike Halloway- Mackintosh Physical Education Educator
So many students have shared that they want more of Mimi and Dance classes. Students felt noticed and connected well with her. She was truly amazing.
I noticed students who lack comfort and confidence in their own body awareness connect to their own movement self-expression in a way that was beautiful to behold. I also saw students who were skeptical of “doing dance” let loose, have fun, and leave the room saying, “maybe dance isn’t so bad after all.”
Kristel Jelinek Brown- Mackintosh Performing Arts Educator
September 2022: ArtWalk: Firehouse Art Center and the City of Longmont
ArtWalk is an annual arts festival that brings together local artists, businesses and nonprofits. It is an event that highlights art, economy and creating positive change in our communities. Anima Arts provided free creative movement and dance activities for along the festival’s center street.
Summer 2022: Kidchella (City of Loveland)
This child-centered festival included live performances, arts & crafts, and games from the City of Loveland Mobile Recreation Trailer. Anima Arts provided creative dance and hip hop party classes as well as intergenerational activities to help children and their grown-ups meaningfully connect through movement.
Summer 2022: Ollin Farms
Anima Arts offered an all ages family dance and art class to learn about nutrients and the amazing ways colorful fruits and vegetables help our bodies to grow and stay healthy!
Summer 2022: Boulder Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship & Longmont UU Presence
In partnership with the School of the Spirit leadership Anima Arts offered movement classes for youth ages 5-10 in autonomy, improvisation and spiritual exploration through dance. In Longmont our organization offered a multi-generational exploration of spiritual embodiment through mindful movement and games.
Summer 2022-Present: Altavita Memory Care
In partnership with the music therapy program Anima Arts offers therapeutic dance, music and movement for senior residents ages 60+. Classes focus on community building, reducing isolation, increasing mobility and cultivating joy!
Summer 2022: OUT Boulder County & Boulder Pride
Anima Arts offered a community dance event for attendees of OUT Boulder County’s annual Pride March and festival. Participants celebrated and affirmed their bodies and spirits in this multi-generational dance class and party!
Look for our upcoming intergenerational dance offerings with OUT Boulder County.
April 2022, February 2023 : CSU Dance Department
Anima Arts visited a dance teaching course at Colorado State University to share insights and experiences in dance education, arts advocacy, and creating dance in communities.
Winter-Summer 2022: Mi Chantli
In partnership with Block1750 Anima Arts launched two community classes in the winter of 2022. Offerings included a family dance class for children ages 4-8 and creative dance for ages 3-6. Mi Chantli (formerly Block 1750) is space in Boulder, CO dedicated to supporting dancers worldwide by providing space, education, and events to cultivate community. Learn more about Mi Chantli (Block 1750) HERE
Fall 2021-Present: Central Elementary Longmont
Founder Mimi Ferrie has joined Kindergarteners and 1st graders over the Webex platform and in-person offering creative movement and dance education. Units of inquiry have included spiders, the winter solstice, anatomy, celebrating the excellence of Black artists, dinosaurs, snowflakes and money.
Spring-Summer 2022: Foothills Unitarian Universalist
Anima Arts camp residencies included education for children ages 5-18 in a dance, music and games, unleashing their creativity, sense of adventure and the mazes and mysteries of their spiritual journeys.
As they climbed the tallest mountains and dove to the deepest seas, campers awakened their traveling spirits with discovery and curiosity for themselves and the world around them. Foothills Unitarian is a vibrant and growing congregation where over 600 adult members and 250 children and youth share the mission of unleashing courageous love. Each of our members is called to live out this mission in their own lives and as a community we seek to partner with those building a more just, compassion and loving future in Northern Colorado. Learn more HERE
Mimi is a child whisperer! The kids were entirely engaged all morning in creative play and movement. Mimi inspires them to really delve into their imaginations with dance, art, stories and conversations. She guided our creative dance workshop with energy and enthusiasm and allowed space for kids to contribute their ideas and let their imaginations run wild! What a fun day for our kids!
Director of Family Ministry- Foothills Unitarian Universalist Church
My kids told me how AWESOME the spring break camps were. They both had a blast each day. And what a gift to families.
Rev. Elaine Aaron Tenbrink
Anima Arts 