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Perspectives on Dance Teaching
As Jody Arnhold always says, “there is no dance without dance education,” a philosophy that guides my teaching practice and my work in the arts. Dance education has been a foundational part of my development as an artist and a human being since the early stages of my career. I have dedicated the past 20 years to developing and strengthening my teaching practice to better support the multicultural communities I serve.
The Blueprint and the five strands of learning
A predominant aspect of my practice involves guiding students in strengthening their creative capacity and developing their own voice. My approach reflects the NYCDOE Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Dance and is guided by the five strands of learning. In my classes, students of all ages acquire a unique set of skills in dance-making, develop dance literacy, make connections with other disciplines and subjects, work with community and cultural resources, and explore careers and lifelong learning. In developing curricula for my dance classes, the Blueprint has been an instrumental resource, providing a framework for grounding my ideas. Here are some perspectives on the implementation of this framework.
Strands of the New York City Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Dance Pre-K-12:
Dance Making is a foundational perspective in my approach to teaching. The joy of dance is intrinsically connected with the opportunity of using this art form to express yourself and develop your identity. The Blueprint’s framework for dance-making, emphasizing the development of skills and techniques, improvisation, choreography, and performance, invites students to explore the rigor of creativity while fostering autonomy, independence, and artistry.
Developing Dance Literacy is critical to a well-rounded educational dance experience. Students learn to understand dance as a means of expression and communication; apply dance vocabulary, terminology, and symbols; analyze, critique, and communicate about dance; and identify and compare dance styles, genres, significant works, and artists. While I am well-versed in several dance styles, including Ballet, Modern, Contemporary, Argentine Tango, and Salsa, I’m committed to exposing my students to diverse artistic expressions and expanding their perspectives on dance. Aesthetic Education is a valuable tool for accessing works of art, “designed to nurture appreciative, reflective, cultural participatory engagements” (Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, 2014).
Making Connections: Working for over 15 years in early childhood as a movement and dance teacher has led me to recognize dance's powerful capacity to build knowledge and critical thinking skills across disciplines beyond dance. Understanding dance history and the social and cultural significance of dance has been a passion of mine that I have been sharing with my students since early on. Connecting dance to other arts and disciplines has motivated much of my artistic practice, and I encourage this among my students to initiate their explorations and cultivate meaningful relationships.
Working with Community and Cultural Resources: I empower my students to build relationships with other professional artists and cultural organizations by bringing this philosophy into the classroom. Working with the visual arts, music, or drama teacher to create multidisciplinary works of art models an approach that cultivates collaboration, inclusion, and diversity.
By Exploring Careers and Lifelong Learning in dance from an early age, students nurture a growth mindset and develop a range of skills that can be applied to many aspects of life. Dance education made me the creative, problem-solving, resourceful, and resilient individual I am today. It expanded my verbal and nonverbal communication skills, fostered my critical thinking capacities, and broadened my social-emotional skills. I am eager to foster these strengths in my students’ lives.
Collaboration and Social-emotional learning
In my teaching and artistic practice, I prioritize collaboration and collective problem-solving. I have worked with music, theater, and visual arts teaching artists and partner teachers, creating multi-arts integration programs focusing on artistic expression and social-emotional intelligence. Social-emotional Learning is a crucial aspect in my practice. I develop learning experiences that enable my students to explore and strengthen their social-emotional core competencies, including collaboration, conflict resolution, and social awareness.
Artistic Practice
My artistic practice is a very strong pillar of my professional life. As a dancer and choreographer, I continue to create and produce dance works that reflect the crucial values and experiences that shape me. The work I do with my dance company is a laboratory in which I generate ideas that continually inform my teaching. This perspective has infused curiosity and innovation into everything I do.
Teaching Artistry
When I moved to New York, I encountered teaching artistry. I began teaching in my home country, Argentina, where I studied to become a certified ballet teacher at public dance schools. During those early years of my pedagogical practice, I found that the only way to connect something as ‘foreign’ as ballet to young children was to bring to light those elements of the artistic form in a way relevant to the students. I created songs related to their daily routines and used them to introduce and conclude the lessons. I played music the students liked, I brought a variety of costumes and props, and transformed traditional barre exercises into creative movement explorations. I had no training in creative movement, but I was an exploratory artist, and this edge of curiosity helped me transform my practice to make it relevant and, thus, motivating for my students. Without my knowledge, I was learning to be a teaching artist.
Curriculum Writing
I am passionate about developing and implementing dance curricula. One of my most significant achievements was designing the Curriculum Map for the Modern Dance Classes I taught at the Mark Morris Dance Center for two consecutive years. For this project, I created two curriculum maps comprising eight units, each aligned with the LMA framework. Within these units, I explored a range of Modern Dance choreographers and movement styles and connected with academic subjects such as Math, ELA, and Social Studies. These programs were aligned with the National Core Arts Standards, the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Dance, and the New York Common Core Learning Standards for ELA and Math.
Arts Education Administration
Another important aspect of my work is centered on Arts Education administration. During the COVID-19 pandemic, most of my dance teaching jobs were interrupted, disrupting my professional trajectory and leaving me isolated by the loss of my dance community. I found arts education administration as a way to restore my practice, re-engage with the arts, and serve different communities in need. This work expanded my abilities, enabled me to apply the transferable skills I gained in dance, and led me to find alternative ways to support students' growth and development. This work has led me to elevate the experiences of hundreds of families in communities across the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, and has nurtured a new passion for working with adult learners and future teaching artists.
Photo Credit
Top Picture: Nir Arieli | Dancers from left to right: Sofia Ameglio, Shizu Higa, Carmen Caceres, & Maddie Barry
Bottom Pictures: Brandon Perdomo | Dancers from left to right: Carmen Caceres & Lydia Perakis
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