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Dance Education Blog

NDEO's "Dance Education" Blog features articles written by NDEO members about dance and dance education topics as well as periodic updates on NDEO programs and services. This is a FREE resource available to ALL.

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By Nayeon (Kate) Kim, Student attending Seoul Foreign High School ~~ Lately, I am approached with short clips of my friends trying a TikTok dance. Often, after dance practice, I’ll walk into a classroom and find a group gathered around a phone, laughing as they attempt to learn the latest viral routine. Recently, one of my friends shared how she had mastered a trending TikTok dance in just ten minutes the night before. She was thrilled and exclaimed, half-joking and half-proud, that she must ha...
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By Kieron Dwayne Sargeant, Assistant Professor of Dance, Skidmore College ~~ In every classroom I enter—whether in the U.S. or back home in Trinidad—I bring rhythm with me. It’s not something I add to the dance. It is the dance. Rhythm is the structure, the entry point, the thing that tells you not just when to move, but why to move. As both a dancer and a drummer, I don’t separate movement from rhythm or sound from action. In the Caribbean, we don’t dance on top of the rhythm—we are insid...
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By Alexandra Beller, CMA, MFA, Artistic Director, Alexandra Beller/Dances, Faculty, The Laban/Bartenieff Institute ~~ How do we give feedback that strengthens without silencing, clarifies without imposing, honors difference without assuming sameness? As dance educators, we regularly offer feedback. It’s in our syllabi, built into our assessments, and embedded in our studio culture. But most of us were never taught how to give feedback—only how to survive it. Many of us carry wounds from well-m...
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by Susan McGreevy-Nichols, NDEO Executive Director and CEO, and Julie Pentz, NDEO President ~~ It is with mixed emotions that I announce my retirement as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Dance Education Organization as of July 1, 2025. It has been a glorious experience heading the organization and certainly is the high point of my professional life. After 13 years of service as ED/CEO, I am ready to step away from the demands and pace of running a national organizat...
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By Dr. Christi Camper Moore, Associate Professor of Dance and Head of Arts Administration, & Olivia Lybarger, Student, Ohio University ~~ his blog reviews a semester-long choreographic investigation, developed and guided by movement research that focused on ecological balance, the human relationship with consumption, and the earth and its ecosystems. Olivia is an Environmental Studies major and Dance minor, and Christi is an Associate Professor of Dance. The authors were curious about an interdi...
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At NDEO, we are committed to offering programs and services that help dance educators foster student development through dance education. Student development is the process of how students grow and develop their skills, both inside and outside of the classroom - or in our case, the dance studio! When considering student development, their academic, social, emotional, and physical growth and well-being are taken into account. As dance educators, we know that dance has a positive impact on student...
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By Deepa Mahadevan, Founder/Director, Matrusena ~~ When the lights came on we were five Bharatanatyam dancers posing as live sculptures and hoping to recreate in the minds of the audience a snapshot of an evergreen film song, “Mannavan Vandhaan Adi” from the movie, ‘Tiruvarulchelvar’ (1967). The impetus for this blog is the affect or the unformed tension that took place in my mind-body as a Bharatanatyam dancer when negotiating my conservative classical aesthetic biases while giving form to ...
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By Zachary Keita, NAfME Advocacy and Public Policy Communications Manager ~~ On February 12, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a confirmation hearing of President Trump’s nominee for U.S. Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon. During the hearing, McMahon responded to inquiries regarding her experience and knowledge on programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and outlined her vision for ED if she were to be confirmed by the full Senate ...
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By Gina D'Antonio-Spears, Dance Educator, Portage Park Elementary School ~~ When I was a student, my dance teacher would say, “One more time!” but we knew it meant several more times. This is so common that they make tee shirts about it. So, how do we get our students to value the rehearsal process, and understand that even though the learning is complete, there is still more to do? To solve this problem, I teach specific dance elements during the rehearsal process, keeping each lesson fee...
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By Zachary Keita, NAfME Public Policy and Advocacy Communications Manager ~~ In the early days of his administration, President Donald J. Trump has taken significant action to push forward his vision for the U.S. Department of Education and the federal role in education. Beginning on January 20, 2025, the administration has issued a series of executive orders and agency memos that would eliminate all federal government diversity, equity, inclusion, and access (DEIA) practice, freeze all disburs...
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By Patch Schwadron, Independent Career Consultant ~~ Beyond learning technique, dancers need to develop and practice strategies for managing their mental and physical health, finances, and career options. As with all their acquiring of life skills, dancers in training can benefit from practical support provided by knowledgeable adults around them. At the Fund, I responded to a request from a dance professor at Florida State University to talk to students about how to use their college years to p...
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by Shannon Dooling-Cain, NDEO Special Projects ~~ As dance education professionals, we understand the dynamic, affirming, community-building power of dance. But unfortunately, we live in a time when dance is increasingly misunderstood, misrepresented, underfunded, and undervalued. The challenges facing the field of dance education at this moment cannot be overstated. Funding for the arts, at every level, is increasingly at risk. Dance programs in K-12 and higher education are being dismantled at...
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by Pascal Rekoert, Assistant Professor and Dance Education Program Director at Central Connecticut State University ~~ Successful educators continually adopt a sense of curiosity in their work environment, ideally adjusting to their community’s needs and learning attitudes. As teachers, we are leaders who strengthen our community in the microcosm of our learning spaces, guiding individual students toward success. It is imperative to build (or revisit) our teaching philosophy annually. While thi...
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by Nadia Ureña, NDEO Intern, Fall 2024 ~~ For college applications, merit awards, grants, or even just simple showcases, dancers are often asked to describe their own choreography in writing.Yet where does one begin? How can an entire choreographic process and work be described in a simple paragraph. Additionally, dance makers may feel challenged to condense longer works into simple ideas. As a former undergraduate and graduate student in dance, choreographer, and a teaching assistant of several...
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By Shannon Dooling-Cain, NDEO Special Projects ~~ In this post, we will focus on how dance educators can better connect with high school age dance students. We are defining high school age dance students as those approximately age 14-18, in grades 9-12. High school students are navigating the transition to adulthood. As the non-profit EL Education describes, “As students transition into and through high school, they are able to make more connections between their actions and the impact of those...
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