Who is NDEO? Getting to Know NDEO Members
Why is NDEO membership important?
NDEO is often described as an organization 鈥渇or the members, by the members.鈥� As a membership organization, we rely on revenue from member dues to help support our advocacy work and provide the infrastructure we need to keep the organization running. We rely on our members to work with the staff to provide leadership and service that helps us fulfill our mission to advance dance education for all people. Most importantly, a strong member base is a signal to donors, funding organizations, legislatures, partners, and other stakeholders that our cause is important and our work is valued.
Who are NDEO members?
NDEO members are dance educators, dance artists, administrators, college dance students, professionals, and advocates working in diverse environments. They represent dance studios, K-12 education, professional preparation programs, performing arts organizations and academies, professional dance companies, college and university dance programs, and cultural and community programs. They collectively teach, create, and perform all genres of dance. NDEO members are diverse in age, gender, socioeconomic status, ability, and ethnicity and live in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and throughout the international community. With diverse backgrounds and interests, NDEO members create a rich community of individuals and institutions dedicated to advancing dance education centered in the arts.
Getting to know some NDEO members
In this blog series, we will be sharing updates from NDEO members about their work, practices, and accomplishments. These members replied to NDEO鈥檚 call for submissions in early 2025. Each month, we plan to share another blog post introducing more members. Five members are featured in this post: Lydia Hance, Heather Acomb, Paola Maria Bassignana, Donna Newman-Bluestein, and Ai Nelson.
Lydia Hance
At the start of this year, Frame Dance gathered for a visioning session to imagine the future of education. We explored new models for education, accessibility, and the role of movement in learning. From that conversation, our Frame Dance Classrooms curriculum was born. FDC seamlessly integrates creative movement and dance into the academic school day, using early childhood brain development research to enhance classroom management, attention, problem-solving skills, and social-emotional learning. With short, strategically placed movement exercises and circle time regulation activities, classroom teachers can foster focus and engagement鈥攚ithout needing prior dance experience. Each activity is broken into simple, adaptable sections that fit naturally into daily school routines, making it easy for educators to implement. We recently concluded our first pilot which was tested in 10 classrooms and you can follow this journey on Instagram @framedance and YouTube @framedanceclassrooms. Through this work, Frame Dance is shaping a future where movement is woven into every child's education. - Lydia Hance, Executive Director/Founder, Frame Dance, TX (pictured left)
Heather Acomb
Last spring semester, I was the recipient of Nazareth University's Life's Work Champion Award, and recognized for my work in mentoring my dance students. Unexpectedly, that was my last semester with those students. I had an opportunity to return to SUNY Brockport and the program where I had received my MFA, and I took it. After one semester as adjunct, the position became a full-time position. I am loving teaching Bill Evans Technique and somatic movement education to the students there, in the same studio where Evans himself taught me, and I am loving the challenge of teaching courses that I have never taught before. - Heather Acomb, Full Time Lecturer at SUNY Brockport, NY (pictured right)
Paola Maria Bassignana
It is a great pleasure to share my story with NDEO members! This year, I implemented the "Citizens in Action" dance and civic education project for the third consecutive year at the comprehensive where I teach. While it may seem like a small achievement, it's anything but trivial. I live and work in Italy, where dance in schools is rarely practiced or recognized. The success of this project at Istituto Comprensivo Albaro in Genoa is a rare pearl. I offer interdisciplinary lessons combining dance and civics for primary and middle school students, reaching 16 classes and about 300 students annually. In "Citizens in Action," we dance to explore themes like coexistence, inclusion, and mutual respect. As a remote doctoral student at Teachers College, Columbia University, I will study this project to inspire similar initiatives across Italy. The rare pearl could become a necklace of pearls! - Paola Maria Bassignana, Elementary School Teacher/Dance Educator, Istituto Comprensivo Albaro, Genoa, Italy (pictured left)
Donna Newman-Bluestein
This year, I provided two training sessions to bring dance to older adults and people with dementia at the 92nd St. Y in New York City. I will be leading a similar training April 25-27 in Massachusetts. - Donna Newman-Bluestein, Dance/Movement Therapist, Dance for Connection, MA (pictured right)
Ai Fujii Nelson
Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, with its 61-year history, continually refines its educational programs. "Dance is for Everybody: Elements of Dance," one of our longest-running offerings for public school students and teachers, is a 45-minute dance demonstration with narration that builds dance appreciation. We regularly update our materials, previously incorporating Spanish vocabulary to support Utah's Spanish-speaking students. This year, we added about ten American Sign Language vocabularies as part of the movement component of the performance: good morning, good afternoon, dance, space, energy, time, shape, thank you, and awesome! Following the principle of "nothing about us without us," educators from our local Kenneth Burdett School of the Deaf coached our dancers in organically integrating these signs into our narration and movement. The program has been positively received by students, teachers, and peer reviewers. We are proud of this addition and committed to continuing to make our performances more accessible and equitable. - Ai Fujii Nelson, Education Director, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, UT (pictured left)
Join the community - become an NDEO member!
Are you ready to join the NDEO community? We are ready to welcome you! Join dance educators, dance artists, administrators, college dance students, professionals, and advocates working in dance studios, K-12 education, professional preparation programs, performing arts organizations and academies, professional dance companies, college and university dance programs, and cultural and community programs. Our community is made up of members who are diverse in age, gender, socioeconomic status, ability, and ethnicity who are teaching, creating, and performing all genres of dance. We believe that our community is made better through diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and interests - including yours! Visit our Membership page to learn more and sign up today!
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麻豆视频直播 NDEO鈥檚 Dance Education Blog聽
The 鈥淒ance Education鈥� blog is brought to you by The National Dance Education Organization (NDEO), a thriving non-profit membership organization that supports YOU as a dance educator! NDEO works with and for dance educators of all backgrounds and in every setting and genre. We work for equitable and accessible dance education for all through advocacy, research, and support for the dance educators who are making a difference for their students. As a membership organization, we rely on dance educators like YOU to join us in this important work! When you become a member of NDEO, you align yourself with our vision of dance education for all. We invite you to become a part of our vibrant community that offers support, resources, advocacy, and research you need to make a difference for yourself and make an impact on our field. Now more than ever, we need to come together to celebrate and share the dynamic, affirming, community-building, transformative power of dance. Join the movement - become a member of NDEO today!
Photo Credits (in order from top to bottom): Noah Gelfman, Lydia Hance, Courtney Acomb, Paola Maria Bassignana, Donna Newman-Bluestein, Ai Fujii Nelson