Destiny Arts Center inspires and ignites social change through the arts.

WHO WE ARE

Destiny Arts Center is a community of dedicated teaching artists, mentors and changemakers, building safe and welcoming spaces for young people to express themselves.

We believe in the power of artistic self-expression through movement arts. We help young people find their voices, develop their sense of self and change, the world around them. Destiny Arts Center inspires and ignites the desire to build a better world within young people and their communities.

Welcome! Learn about all that Destiny has to offer by exploring the content and videos below.

Creativity & Self-Expression

The arts are a vital tool for people of all ages to express inner emotions, share their truest identities, and connect with the world around them.

At Destiny, we believe that we can say through movement what we often cannot say in words. Dance and martial arts open new doors through which young people can authentically express who they are. Over 88% of our youth indicate that our programs make them feel better about themselves.

We begin and end every Destiny session with an opening and closing circle, a crucial time for our young people to connect with themselves and each other. Circles include meditation and grounding, as well as opportunities to share achievements and emotions and uplift one another through encouragement and support.

At Destiny, we know that when young people have the arts as a platform for expression, they become more equipped to build healthy relationships with themselves and others. Our programs are specifically designed to help young people strengthen their skills in:

Self-love
Confidence
Empathy
Communication
Conflict Resolution

At Destiny, we work with young people intensively and consistently. Youth in our dance and martial arts programs work closely with our teaching artists; building trust and gaining mentorship over the long-term. Our work is centered in relationship-building, as connection and trust are precursors to learning, creative expression, and healthy growth and development.

From this foundation of safety and connection, our youth are able to more freely engage in their artistic practice. Through dance and martial arts, our youth develop new languages to express their power.

“At Destiny Arts, I was challenged to push beyond what I was taught and create my own way of looking at things.”

— Destiny Alumna

JUS
TICE

Racial Justice & Social Change

Central to our work is the belief that the arts are a powerful vehicle for addressing injustice and igniting social change.

Over the past 30 years, Destiny has centered and elevated youth who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC) with 80% of our youth identifying as BIPOC. From our inception, Destiny’s leadership and staff have reflected the communities we serve, and our Teaching Artists — who are central to our work and pillars of the community — are 94% artists of color.

Our youth have also played an active role in advocating for change by leading and organizing protests and rallies, using dance as protest and taking leadership roles in movements for social change.

Everyone deserves the opportunity to achieve their full potential, and we all have a role to play in dismantling racism and anti-Blackness, along with many other forms of oppression that perpetuate in our society, including ableism, homophobia, transphobia, and xenophobia.

Destiny centers art forms that are rooted in Black culture and the African Diaspora and celebrates the cultural heritages and unique lived experiences of all of our diverse young people. Where society often minimizes or silences the contributions and influences of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) cultures, Destiny Arts celebrates them and helps young people see their own strength and value.

Destiny youth learn to look at the world and systems around them and question the status quo. We equip our youth to think critically and ask how they can break down boundaries in their lives and bring about social change.

Destiny youth’s artistic work raises awareness and addresses deep societal issues, based on their lived experiences. Youth write, create, lead, and put on performances that celebrate hope, empowerment, and community, and interrogate and explore issues such as systemic and anti-Black racism, police brutality, gentrification, and gender identity.

At Destiny, we recognize and honor the rich and deep histories of the dance and movement-based arts that we teach. We honor and preserve the history of the roots of Hip Hop and Street Dance forms and connect them to their origins from the African Diaspora and ground our youth in their art form’s living legacy.

SUP
PORT

Social Emotional
Learning & Support

At Destiny, we believe in the transformational and healing power of the arts.

Youth and adolescence can be hard for every young person — they are forming their identities, learning to grapple with social and peer pressure, and learning to understand their impact on those around them. Artistic practice and creative expression are a foundation that builds resilience, supporting our youth as they grow into young adults.

Arts Education Impacts All 5 Core Social Emotional Competencies:

Self-awareness

Young people learn how their feelings, thoughts, personal traits, strengths and challenges influence oneself and the creative process.

Self-management

Youth artists analyze, evaluate, and refine their performance over time through openness to new ideas, persistence, and the application of critical feedback.

Social awareness

Young artists build self-confidence through selecting / rehearsing / refining artistic works for performance / presentation / production, while also learning to manage emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.

Relationship skills

Considering cultural, historical, and social perspectives, youth artists work collaboratively to create and perform artistic works.

Responsible decision-making

Responding to artistic works develops capacity for positive communication and constructive conflict resolution. Youth artists rely on feedback and critique from others in response to deepen their artistic work. Source: selarts.org

At Destiny, we understand the unique challenges and opportunities of young adulthood, and provide our young people the support they need to persevere to become peaceful, powerful and creative.

Peaceful, Powerful, and Creative:

Peaceful: to use compassion to deepen our understanding of ourselves and one another.

Powerful: to be invested in their own learning/development.

Creative: to reflect upon and express the content of their lives.

At Destiny, our dance and martial arts programs are embedded in healthy communication, problem-solving, and conflict resolution to help our youth build the skills they need to work through interpersonal challenges. Every young person who we help prepare to confront life’s challenges peacefully contributes to the collective healing of our communities and the world.

At Destiny, we understand that conflict and challenges are an inevitable part of life. We offer our young people tools to navigate these difficult moments, setting them up for success today and in the future. Over 80% of our students have said that Destiny’s model helped them better handle problems in life.

“Destiny isn’t a typical dance or martial arts studio. Destiny instills deep values of love, peace, unity and respect into our children.”

— Destiny Parent

LEA
DER
SHIP

Leadership
Development

At Destiny, we recognize and honor young people’s critical role as leaders in our society.

Young people have profound potential to be leaders in our communities. At Destiny, we support young people to be the authors of their own stories and experiences, helping them grow aspirations for their lives, their communities, and our world.

In our work we uplift the experiences and voices of young people.

Through the Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company, young people imbue performances with their own stories and experiences.

Through all Destiny programs, by keeping youth at the center of our work, we help them channel agency, leadership, and voice from within in a world that often overlooks them and minimizes their contributions.

“In my time with the Destiny community, I have grown not just as a dancer, but as a human being… I can proudly and unapologetically claim my power as a leader, artist, and woman in this complex, sometimes dark world.”

— Destiny Alumna

OUR IMPACT

Our impact on young people goes beyond programs. In a FY ‘19 survey of our youth:

80%

indicated Destiny offered skills that helped their lives outside of class

79%

felt that Destiny taught skills that helped them get along better with peers

82%

reflected that they actively practiced their art, meditation, mindfulness and practice of appreciation outside of their Destiny classes

Examples of Destiny school partners & community-based organizations:

Brookfield
Burbank Elementary
Edna Brewer Middle School
Elmhurst Middle School
Esperanza Elementary
Fred Finch Avalon Residential
Hoover Elementary
Horace Mann
International Community School
Korematsu Elementary
Life Academy
Lion Creek Crossings

Madison Park Academy (Upper)
Manzanita
Markham Elementary
MLK Elementary
Prescott Elementary School
REACH Community Center
Rudsdale Continuation School
Sankofa Elementary
Street Academy
Think College Now
United for Success Academy
Vincent Academy

OUR PROGRAMS

Our innovative and high-quality dance and martial arts programs typically take place at our North Oakland Center, in schools, and in partnership with other community-based organizations.

See below for an overview of Destiny’s programs, and come back often to stay updated on how our programs shift and change over the coming months.

Dance & Martial Arts Classes at Our Center

At our North Oakland Center, Destiny offers a variety of after school, weekend and summer classes to youth throughout the week. Due to the pandemic, our grounding and transformative dance and martial arts classes have been taking place online, but are now being held outdoors, in small groups, as things open up again.

Learn more about Destiny’s current program offerings.

Destiny Arts Youth Performance Companies

Destiny offers two audition-based youth performance companies, the Destiny Junior Company (ages 9-12) and the Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company performance company for teens (ages 13-18). Through these companies, youth collaborate with professional artists to add their voices and stories to produce an original evening length dance theatre production.

A diverse artistic collective of teens and youth, Destiny’s performance companies address challenging personal and social issues that impact young people’s lives and communities. Their productions include a trademark combination of movement styles, including hip hop and aerial dance, theater, spoken word, rap, and song.

Each year, the companies perform for over 20,000 audience members all over the Bay Area at schools, conferences, and other community events. The teen company has been the subject of two feature documentary films, FREE: The Power of Performance and The Black (W)hole.

Learn more about our youth performance companies and how to get involved.

Destiny School & Community Programs

Destiny works to bring our dance and martial arts programs to young people by meeting them where they are. Since our founding in 1988, Destiny has partnered with local schools and community-based organizations to bring movement arts to young people across Oakland and the greater Bay Area.

Through partnerships and residencies in 50 schools, as well as community centers, nonprofit organizations, and juvenile justice facilities, our teaching artists bring dance and martial arts programs to youth where they live and learn. Destiny also offers professional development to school faculty and staff to support social emotional wellness and school climate initiatives.

Contact us to learn more about how to partner with Destiny today.

See a list of Destiny’s school and community partners.

At Destiny, our depth of programming creates our impact. In 2022:

4000

Youth Served

75 K

Hours of Professional Instruction

30

Schools Served

JOIN OUR MOVEMENT

Thank you for your interest in Destiny Arts Center and our work to inspire and ignite social change in the arts. Learn more by contacting us at:

970 Grace Ave
Oakland, CA 94608

“At Destiny, I found a place that valued and loved me. The impact of that love, that value, is lasting, and radiates through to my life today. It animates my relationships, actions and how I value and love myself, others and the world.”

— Destiny Alumnus