Nearly 3 decades strong, NDEO is just getting started: 2025 in Review
In 2025, NDEO celebrated 28 years as a steady, guiding force in the field of dance education. We helped steer the field through policy changes, economic uncertainty, political challenges, and a global pandemic. We鈥檝e provided guidance for dance administrators, supported dance educators, and ensured that dance was included in national conversations about the arts and education. NDEO has been the go-to source for dance education research, advocacy, and professional development for nearly 3 decades - and we鈥檙e just getting started!
With the support of our membership and partners, NDEO has navigated the changing dance education landscape since 1998. This year, we鈥檝e also had to maneuver through changes in our own organization. Susan McGreevy-Nichols, our Executive Director for over a decade, retired in July, and Melissa Greenblatt successfully stepped into the role of Interim Executive Director. The Policy Board of Directors conducted an extensive National Search and named Ray Schwartz the new Executive Director, effective December 1, 2025.
Despite an uncertain economic outlook, we maintained a steady growth and ended the year with a strong balance sheet as part of our commitment to financial responsibility for our members and the field. Throughout this period of transition and uncertainty, the NDEO staff maintained our robust offering of programs and services, and led the organization and the field through rapidly changing national arts and education funding and policy.
None of what we accomplished in 2025 would have happened without the dedicated and consistent support of NDEO members. As a non-profit professional association and advocacy organization, NDEO relies on revenue from membership dues to sustain the organization. Simply put, the programs, services, and advocacy initiatives that you will read about below would not exist without your support as an NDEO member. If you are not a current member, make 2026 the year that you join or renew your lapsed membership.
If you are a dance parent, former dancer, or dance enthusiast who wants to see dance education thrive in future generations, consider donating to support the programs, services, and advocacy you will read about below.
NDEO鈥檚 Dance Education Blog
NDEO's innovative Dance Education Blog is a free resource made readily available on our website to help disseminate knowledge to all dance educators. It also allows members an opportunity to be published on a national platform, sharing their knowledge and skills with readers around the world. The blog is one of our most popular programs, with over 47,000 views so far in 2025. In 2025, we published 33 new blog posts, including 14 guest blog posts written by NDEO members. New this year was a series called 鈥淲ho is NDEO? Getting to Know NDEO Members,鈥� which spotlighted a total of 20 NDEO members who responded to our call for submission.
Online Resources
On the Events Board, members and non-members can share their dance-related events with a national audience. We also host the Jobs Board, where members are connected with new opportunities for employment. In 2025, there were 148 job posts and 125 events posted.
Our website continues to offer a range of online resources that raise awareness of the field of dance education and provide valuable information to dance education professionals and enthusiasts. We鈥檝e created webpages about Dance Education Research (2023), Graduate Programs in Dance Education (2022), and K-12 Dance Education Careers (2024). Each of these webpage series features insight from NDEO members on their experiences with the topic, which is gathered through an open call for contributions. So far, 88 members have been featured through this initiative. Look for new webpages coming in 2026 - including pages about dance studio ownership and teaching in the dance studio setting!
Additionally, our popular webinar series offers opportunities for dance educators to learn from leading experts. Panelists and presenters share best practices, tips, and strategies related to a diverse range of webinar topics. These webinars are free for members and non-members to attend, and recordings are available on-demand. In 2025, we offered 8 webinars featuring NDEO members discussing a broad range of topics, including injury prevention, neurodivergent dancers, disability justice, and gender inclusivity. You can find the full list of our 2025 webinars and watch recordings on our website.
Online Professional Development Institute
For thirteen years, NDEO鈥檚 has offered high-quality continuing education courses specifically for dance educators. In Spring 2025, NDEO and Oakland University in Michigan announced a new, forward-thinking partnership that will help dance educators earn college credit for the OPDI courses they take. The partnership aims to expand access to high-quality dance education training and certification opportunities for educators. Additionally, we launched ten new courses in 2025! These courses were developed from an open call for OPDI course concepts and professors. They help address current issues and trends in the field. These new courses are:
- OPDI-126: A Historiographical Approach to Teaching Musical Theatre Dance Forms
- OPDI-127: Screendance - Create Your Own Short Dance Film OPDI-M34: Exploring Ballet: History and Practice
- OPDI-M35: Creating Gender Inclusive Dance Spaces
- OPDI-M36: A Survey of Tap Dance Land
- OPDI-M30: Dance in India鈥擠electable Diversity, Taste of Technique
- OPDI-M37: Choreography for the Screen
- OPDI-M38: Social and Emotional Learning in Dance Practice
- OPDI-M39: Afro-Caribbean Dance History and Choreography
- OPDI-M40: Building a Mission-Based Dance Studio
Professional Development Scholarships
NDEO is committed to making high-quality professional development more accessible to all dance educators. A key aspect of this effort is our Professional Development Scholarship Program. These Scholarships promote workforce development in the field and help individual dance educators achieve their career goals through continuing education. In 2025, we offered 39 professional development scholarships and 4 student conference scholarships. NDEO acknowledges the generosity of Jody and John Arnhold and the Arnhold Foundation, whose visionary support helps make our Professional Development Scholarship program possible.
National Awards
NDEO recognizes emerging and established leaders in dance education through our National Awards program. In 2025, we recognized 26 National Award winners, including esteemed and emerging professionals working across dance education genres, sectors, and geographic regions and dance education organizations that are impacting the field.
Conferences and Events
Through our conferences and events, NDEO provides opportunities for dance educators to connect, learn, share, and rejuvenate their teaching and creative practices. Our 2025 National Conference, The Power of Movement: Dance Education Traditions and Innovations was held October 3-6, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan. Over 800 dance educators joined us for three days of professional development, social events, networking opportunities, and performances, centered around the theme. The conference featured workshops, panels, paper presentations, posts, and movement sessions by 360 presenters from diverse work environments, dance genres, and backgrounds. Additionally, we offered two virtual professional professional development opportunities in 2025, Changing Spaces for Gender Inclusive Dance on March 1, 2025 and Mental Health in Dance: A Summit for Dance Teachers on August 2, 2025, hosted in collaboration with Dascend.
On behalf of the NDEO Staff, Board of Directors, and Advisory Council, we would like to offer our sincere gratitude to our members, donors, and partners for supporting us as we worked toward equitable and accessible dance education for all by building dance education knowledge, cultivating the next generation of leadership, and creating meaningful connections in the field. We are proud of what we have accomplished this year, but know that there is so much more to do.
NDEO is ready to navigate whatever challenges the dance education field faces in 2026 and beyond. Are you ready to join us? We can only do this together! Join NDEO, invite a friend or colleague to become a member, or make a donation today.
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麻豆视频直播 NDEO鈥檚 Dance Education Blog听
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!
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