Trenton Youth Dancers director Rachel Schwartz, Princeton University Class of 2018, is an artist, dancer, designer, and educator based in New Jersey. This is her third year with TYD. She is dedicated to pursuing both her own artistic practice and a career in arts education. Her artistic work includes painting, choreography, puppet-making, and costume design for devised theater works, in collaboration with Nathalie Ellis-Einhorn and GASH Theatre Company in London.

Previously, Rachel has taught in special education settings, such as The Quad Manhattan, and with girls’ empowerment organizations throughout NYC. She was also a teaching artist for Art as a Catalyst for Change, a NYC initiative that brings anti-gun violence messaging and opportunities for creative expression to middle and high schools with high incidences of gun violence. Based on these experiences and her study of dance pedagogy at Princeton, she has developed a teaching style that is attentive, compassionate, fun, and rigorous. She believes that dance and choreography have the power to help young people develop personal agency and access powerful modes of self-expression.