The Music in Me Foundation makes the arts accessible by offering movement classes for older adults and after-school programs for young people. During the summer, they host intergenerational workshops, which are “so impactful for young people to see,” said Jane Pinczuk, 62, who founded The Music in Me Foundation in 2013. Photo courtesy of The Music in Me Foundation

• Share

PRINT

A local arts foundation’s tagline is “Unleash Your Superpowers.” From movement classes for older adults to art sessions for high schoolers, the Music in Me Foundation encourages us all to live our best lives, no matter our age.

“We develop new superpowers as we get older. It could be friendship. You could be the person who makes others feel comfortable. It could be your strength, creativity, rhythm, motivation,” said Jane Pinczuk, 62, who founded The Music in Me Foundation in 2013.

“They are your strengths and are deep inside of you. They never go away.”

In addition to offering classes for older adults, the nonprofit foundation aims to end bullying and gun violence through after-school programs for young people that include music, storytelling, literacy, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and the visual and performing arts.

Artists teach kids, adults

The program’s “teaching artists,” including dancers, rappers, writers and visual artists, lead classes that use the arts to teach life skills and boost academic performance.

For example, if a school district wants to improve literacy scores, Music in Me teachers implement strategies that support science, math, communication and social and emotional learning, Pinczuk said.

The series of classes concludes with a schoolwide pep rally, PeerPositivePOWER. This interactive multimedia performance gets students drumming, singing and dancing along with those onstage.

The pep rally tries “to motivate and inspire students and to unite the school community,” Pinczuk said.

“It demonstrates the importance of looking out for one another and the power each of us has to make a difference,” she said.

The Music in Me Foundation President and Artistic Director Daniel Soto attests to the program’s effectiveness.

“I’ve had students who became chefs after their senior year. They found themselves through this program. There are students I’ve taught who are now teachers,” Soto said.

He described one student who had been on house arrest and went on to take on a major leadership role in his school’s final PeerPositivePOWER performance. Soto said that these creative interventions are transformative not only for the students but also for their families.

Inspired by late daughter

Pinczuk’s daughter, Michele Amira, was a journalist and visual and performing artist who dared to challenge peers who bullied her. At the same time, her body was under attack by a rare illness that ultimately took her life in 2021 at age 27.

Pinczuk and her colleagues were determined to keep Amira’s creative, adventurous spirit alive through the programs of Music in Me.

The group offers classes for people of all abilities across the DMV.

“Not only do we work with people of different physical abilities, but also people of different cognitive abilities,” Pinczuk said.

“It’s so uplifting to have a mix because the seniors that have different cognitive abilities have no filters, and it makes for a more expressive environment. They’re freer, and it makes the rest of the community feel freer, and it’s so supportive.”

While Pinczuk is the group’s founder and CEO, she, like Soto, is also a dedicated teaching artist.

One of her students is Linda Curry, 69. Although Curry had never taken dance classes before, the retired social services worker began three years ago. She now attends several classes each week, including Pinczuk’s SuperPower Dance Hour at Wheaton Senior Center, one of the 10 classes Pinczuk teaches for older adults in the area.

“The music is wonderful, the energy is great, and I enjoy seeing familiar faces,” Curry said.

She has even shared some of the steps she’s learned with her daughter, who’s in her 30s. They turn up the music and dance together.

Pinczuk brings as much energy to her classes as she does to running the foundation.

“Her enthusiasm is wonderful,” Curry said. “She’s so sincere, and she wants everyone to have a good time. It doesn’t matter if you know the steps…she’s so non-judgmental.”

‘The arts are the first to go’

Running a nonprofit of this scope requires significant fundraising, and Music is Me has successfully secured funds from organizations and businesses, including Chuck Levin’s Music Center, WPGC Radio, Trader Joe’s, Mayor Muriel Bowser’s 202Creates initiative, The Trevor Project, Children’s National Medical Center and more.

However, like many arts organizations, they are experiencing the effects of budget cuts and freezes.

“It’s caused me not to do some major projects in D.C.,” Pinczuk said. “Usually, when budgets are being cut, the arts are the first to go. Arts should be the last thing to go because it supports everything else. It’s what makes children come to school.”

Despite those cutbacks, Music in Me remains dedicated to making the arts accessible to people of all ages.

During the summer, they host intergenerational workshops, which are “so impactful for young people to see,” Pinczuk said.

“I’ve actually had [the kids] say, ‘The seniors have all the fun.’”

For more information about the nonprofit, visit themusicinme.org.