Behind the Curtain Blog

By Ashlea Sovetts, choreographer, teacher, administrator, advocate ~~ Throughout this summer I had the opportunity to partake in the Rensing Center’s two-week residency program alongside my collaborator Alexandria Nunweiler in Borseda, Italy. In 2020, we applied to the residency in hopes to develop and refine our creative process used for our premiere work 10 Recalling-20, where we interviewed ten individuals ranging in age from 4-85 about their life experiences and how they coped during an unp...

By Shannon Dooling-Cain, NDEO Director of Special Projects ~~ As we wrap up another school year, we find ourselves reflecting on the tenacity and dedication of our members and their students. This year posed many unique challenges for the dance education community, even as the world slowly began to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. In celebration of another year of persistence and innovation, we asked our members to share some of their accomplishments from the past year. Here is just a sample ...

By Shannon Dooling-Cain, NDEO Director of Special Projects ~~ This summer, we find ourselves reflecting on the tenacity and dedication of our members and their students. This year posed many unique challenges for the dance education community, even as the world slowly began to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. In celebration of another year of persistence and innovation, we asked our members to share some of their accomplishments from the past year. Here is just a sample of the responses we re...

By Shannon Dooling-Cain, NDEO Director of Special Projects ~~ This summer, we find ourselves reflecting on the tenacity and dedication of our members and their students. This year posed many unique challenges for the dance education community, even as the world slowly began to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. In celebration of another year of persistence and innovation, we asked our members to share some of their accomplishments from the past year. Here is just a sample of the responses we re...

By Shannon Dooling-Cain & Shelby Bensinger, NDEO Staff ~ In this blog series, we are celebrating our member’s diverse, creative, and inspiring visions for the future of dance education. We recognize that our members come from a wide range of backgrounds, dance experiences, and work environments that influence their perspectives on the dance field today and their aspirations for the future...

By Shannon Dooling-Cain, NDEO Special Projects Coordinator ~~ At NDEO, we are keenly aware of the need for a strong and clear vision for the future of dance education. Such a vision helps to direct our current and future efforts in the field, ensuring that the work we do now will have a positive and lasting impact over time. Our organizational vision statement reflects our desire to foster a future that is inclusive and equitable, with an emphasis on accessible, high quality dance education...

By Anabella Lenzu, choreographer, teacher, professor, and writer ~~ For me, self-discipline is the key to working on the flexibility and strength of one’s mind, body, and spirit. Without self-discipline, the life of an artist is impossible. Self-discipline is a respect for what you love. It is your ability to continue choosing to work on your art despite being tired one day, sick another, or any other number of challenges that may arise.No one is going to scream at you and tell you what to do ...

By Priscilla Hopkins-Smith, Director of Marketing and Communications for Arts Ed NJ ~~ We realized that this was the ultimate advocacy moment. There was no better time to share the need for arts education and the power of creativity. Since the onset of the pandemic and throughout the past two years, the landscape of arts education has changed dramatically. At schools throughout the state of New Jersey, students were forced to communicate and create from home, or through major restrictions durin...

By Michael Montoya, Independent Dance Consultant ~~ In this guest blog post, Michael Montoya offers a brief discussion of the often-rigid gender and sexual identity expectations of the world of dance and the negative affects they have on LGBTQIA+ dancers.

By Jennifer O’Neill, Program Director/Faculty at Ace Dance Academy, Master Teaching Artist at Center for Community Arts ~~ Perfection. I used to believe that my need for perfection, in all aspects of life but namely in dance, was a badge I should and could wear with pride. I likened being a perfectionist with validity, ....

By Nikki Allred Boyd, Dance Teacher and Musical Theatre Director, Pine Crest School ~~ But what about the academic side of things? What can dance do for the mind and how does that translate academically.....

By Dawn Davis Loring, Independent Dance Writer. It is an act of unparalleled artistic bravery to allow an audience to make of your work what they will. The audience has a burning desire to “get it” and quite often they will rifle through the attics of their experience (or the basement) to search for the lost piece of the puzzle, the piece they are certain will make sense of the rest. Amongst the jigsaw pieces scattered throughout the new Netflix original film I’m Thinking of Ending Things, I ...

By Shannon Dooling, NDEO Special Projects Coordinator ~~ It is safe to say that 2020 was a true test of the commitment, creativity, and courage of the field of dance education. Together, we have navigated our way through the “Ultimate Structured Improvisation” that was......

By Katie Diehl, Assistant Professor of Dance, Idaho State University~~In this blog post, I share three specific somatic concepts and practices that have been informing my ballet pedagogy. Additionally, you will find select movement experiences that can be integrated into your classes. Some of the language I utilize is derived directly from Bill Evans pedagogy...

By Megan Taylor Morrison, Editor of Dance Adventures: True Stories About Dancing Abroad~~In 2018, I began the journey of helping artists from around the world document their stories about the epic experiences they’d had dancing abroad. Now, two and a half years later, these educational, first-person narratives are part of my forthcoming anthology...