Some third- and fourth-grade students in the Lawrence school district are getting a break from their desks this week to learn from dancers associated with a national troupe.

Pilobolus Too, an ensemble founded in 1996 by the Pilobolus Dance Company, is working in 10 classrooms this week as part of a residency program through the Lied Center. Split into two groups, four dancers from the troupe based in Washington Depot, Conn., are working with the same classes throughout the week.

6News video: Dance program promotes academic learning Audio: Sara Bonner, part 1 Audio: Sara Bonner, part 2 Audio: Karen Lane Christilles, part 1 Audio: Karen Lane Christilles, part 2 Audio: Karen Lane Christilles, part 2

Two dancers instructed third-graders Tuesday morning at Broken Arrow School.

As dancer Matt Kent had students split into groups and compete in races that forced them to work as a team, the students’ teacher, Julie McIntyre, watched. She noted how the students had to make decisions and find ways to stay connected while racing.

“I just think of it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them to get to work with professional dancers,” McIntyre said. “I knew that a lot of these kids would never have that opportunity. … They’re having to learn cooperation. They’re learning how to move their bodies in unusual ways. I know that a lot of this can be transferred to the classroom.”

Pilobolus Too’s residency is part of the Strategies in Math, Arts and Reading for Teachers and Students project. Known as smARTS, the project is funded by a two-year, $85,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Matt Kent, center, a dancer with Pilobolus Too, a touring dance group, works with Kiefer Stellwagon, 8, left, and Angel Hunter, 8, at Broken Arrow School. Members of the ensemble visited Wednesday with third-graders at Broken Arrow as part of the Strategies in Math, Arts and Reading for Teachers and Students project.

Lied Center associate director Karen Lane Christilles said when putting the grant proposal together a couple of years ago, people focused on Pilobolus Too because it involved artistic and dance movement. That’s an area not covered by schools, she said.

“So we sort of zeroed in on dance because one of the areas and different ways people learn is through kinetic movement,” Christilles said. “There’s not really a way through most basic classroom instruction to address the kinetic learner because most of it is sitting down in a desk.”

She said it also was appealing because the movement could be integrated into learning basic math concepts.

The dancers were brought to Lawrence through a cooperative program between Lawrence public schools, Lied Center, Adventures in Imagination, US Bank and Baker University.