<p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;">Ann Biddle M.A., Dance Education, Columbia University, B.A., English, Kenyon College, and Fulbright Scholar. Ms. Biddle has been a dance educator, staff developer, curriculum consultant, writer, and choreographer for the past 35 years. She is the Director of the DEL Institute for Professional Learning and Advancement and Director of DEL at Jacob’s Pillow. Ms. Biddle has worked with numerous dance companies including Dorrance Dance, Flamenco Vivo, Jose Limon, Ballet Hispanico, Urban Bush Women, HT Chen, Dorrance Dance and Jonah Bokaer. She has been a facilitator for the NYC DOE Dance Blueprint since 2005. Ms. Biddle worked at the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter School (PVPA) in MA from 2010 – 2018 as the Leader of the Dance Department, Director of Arts Programs and Director of DEL PVPA. Ms. Biddle has been a dance Lecturer at UMASS/Amherst, Kenyon College, Skidmore, Ball State University and Mt. Holyoke College. Ms. Biddle’s published dance curricula include: New York Export: Opus Jazz, Jerome Robbins: The Essence of Cool, Doug Varone and Brenda Angiel’s Aerial collaboration, Dances for iPhone film series, Wonderdance, Dance Making &amp; Langston Hughes Poetry, The Essence of Pearl Primus, Reimagining D-Man in the Water, Into Sunlight A Teacher’s Guide, and was a curriculum consultant on The Perspectives on the Green Table curriculum (PTDC/DEL). Ms. Biddle has been the Project Director of the DEL Tracing Footsteps: Honoring Diverse Voices in NYC Dance History curriculum project since 2020.</span><br><br><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;">Ms. Biddle is currently a doctoral candidate in the Dance Education EdD program at Teachers College and is a recipient of the Susan Furhman and Arnhold Foundation scholarships. Her research interests include teacher education and preparation in K-12, transformative adult learning and leadership, educational mentoring and coaching, and dance and social justice.</span></p>

April Cox is a dance instructor/choreographer teaching hip hop, jazz, and contemporary dance in Johnstown, PA. A Philadelphian native, April has received her BA in Sociology and Minor in Dance from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2008. In 2010, she began teaching dance in Johnstown, PA, where she grew up, and has since received many accolades in the community and competitively (i.e., Showstoppers, Encore DCS). Additionally, April is the co-founder of Sophisticated Legacy, a program that unites students from local studios during competition season. She is passionate about not only building strong dancers, but building strong leaders that will affect change in the world. She has a love for hip hop dance and continues to hold workshops and camps to spread this love in her community.

<p>Aquila Kikora Franklin, JD/MPA, is a Professor of Theatre/Dance and the Associate Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion for the Penn State School of Theatre where she teaches Intro to West African Dance, Hip Hop Theatre, jazz, and Mojah dance. Kikora has performed, choreographed and taught in cities across the globe including Linz, Austria, Grahamstown, South Africa, Dakar, Senegal, Minas Gerais, Brazil, throughout China, Europe, and the United States. In addition, she has choreographed and performed for the Atlanta Hawks Dance Team, Grammy Award Winning group Arrested Development, and renowned poet, Sonia Sanchez. Kikora&rsquo;s research is focused on developing and codifying the Mojah dance technique, an original style created by her mother, dancer/choreographer, Terrie Ajile Axam. Kikora is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Roots of Life Performing Arts Ensemble, an arts-education program in State College, Pennsylvania.</p>

<p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;font-size:11pt;">Danielle Staropoli (M.A., Dance Education, New York University; B.A., Dance, Dean College) teaches early childhood dance at The 92nd Street Y and at The Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City.&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#242424;font-size:11pt;">She is an ABT certified teacher in Pre-primary through Level 3 of the American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum. Danielle has been a guest speaker for professional development trainings at the 92NY as well as a guest lecturer at New York University, Steinhardt and at William Paterson University. She founded the dance program at Bay Ridge Preparatory School in 2017, running the program for seven years. She was also the Dance Specialist for Summers at LREI for several years. Danielle is President of the New York State Dance Education Association (NYSDEA), and formerly President Elect and Director of Conferences. She is an active member of NDEO and has presented at multiple conferences. Danielle has also presented original choreography at Triskelion Arts, Manhattan Movement &amp; Arts Center, Access Theater, 2016 DUMBO Dance Festival, and The National Theatre in Kampala, Uganda.</span></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Enya-Kalia Jordan is a choreographer, researcher, scholar, and teaching-artist, from Brooklyn, New York. Currently, She is&nbsp;Manager of Dancer Development &amp; Diversity for the Radio City Rockettes at MSG Entertainment.&nbsp;She&nbsp;artistically directs a movement-based artist collective, Enya Kalia Creations, and co-produces a collaborative performance project, Bashi Arts, with Rachel DeForrest Repinz.&nbsp;She received a Bachelor of Arts from SUNY Buffalo State and a Master of Fine Arts from Temple University.&nbsp;In 2020, she began her doctoral studies at Texas Woman&#39;s University, researching the decolonization of dance,&nbsp;Black embodiment,&nbsp;and equitable&nbsp;dancer&nbsp;development.&nbsp;She&nbsp;presented her research twice at the Collegium of African Diasporic Dance at Duke University, five times at the National Dance Education events,&nbsp;thrice at&nbsp;Dance&nbsp;For&nbsp;the Child International conference,&nbsp;and the Decolonizing Tertiary Dance Education conference hosted by Stockholm University.&nbsp;In addition, she&nbsp;has conducted ethnographic research&nbsp;in&nbsp;Tokyo, Japan; Guimaraes, Portugal; Amsterdam, Holland, Netherlands; and Paris, France.&nbsp;Enya-Kalia is&nbsp;a&nbsp;teaching-artist with&nbsp;Dancewave, Amanda Selwyn&#39;s Notes in Motion Outreach Theatre, Abron&rsquo;s Center for the Arts, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music&#39;s Dance Africa program.&nbsp;She&nbsp;has also been invited to teach&nbsp;at Bates Dance Festival, been an assistant professor at SUNY Erie, and lecturer at&nbsp;the&nbsp;University of&nbsp;Virginia. Enya believes in the multiplicity of dance and being, meaning in everything she does, there is a dance.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

Erin is the Director of DEL at 92Y. For over fifteen years, Erin has taught dance in a variety of settings, sharing her love of dance with children. At Luna Dance Institute she was the Family Services Manager, specializing in family dance classes, working with families in the reunification process. Erin was the former Education Director of RIOULT and founding member and Dance Specialist at Bronx Arts in the South Bronx, where she created the dance curriculum and taught grades K-5. Erin was a teaching artist for New York City Center, American Ballet Theatre, Ballet Hispanico, and American Repertory Ballet Company. She received the 2021 Outstanding Leadership Award from NYSDEA. At 92Y, she teaches weekly dance classes in the Nursery School and family dance in the Parenting Center.

<p>Jan Erkert has been the Head of the Department of Dance at University of Illinois from 2006- present. As Artistic Director of Jan Erkert &amp; Dancers she created over 70 works that received recognition from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Illinois Arts Council.</p><p>Erkert&rsquo;s current research explores leadership from an embodied perspective. She has been awarded two major awards from the University of Illinois - the <strong><em>Executive Officer Distinguished Leadership Award</em>&nbsp; (</strong>2020), for her outstanding leadership and vision, and the <strong><em>Larine Y. Cowan Make a Difference Award for Leadership in Diversity (</em></strong><em>2014)</em> for her work to undo racism within the department, college and university. She was selected to be a <strong><em>Public Voices Fellow </em></strong>in 2020 as part of the national<em> OpEd Project, </em>and has published numerous OpEds in such publications as &nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/19/opinions/bidens-refusal-to-feed-the-troll-erkert/index.html">CNN Opinion,</a> <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/12/7/22160023/if-a-dance-program-at-the-university-of-illinois-can-find-a-way-to-carry-on-so-can-our-country">The Chicago Sun Times,</a> and <a href="https://visiblemagazine.com/trust-the-body/">Visible Magazine.</a> She is currently seeking publication of her manuscript, <em>Every Body has a Body Full of Wisdom, Stories of Leadership and Life.</em></p><p>Ms. Erkert has been a national leader in dance, serving as the President of the Council of Dance Administrators and as a commissioner on accreditation for the National Association for Schools of Dance. She is a <strong><em>Fulbright Scholar Awardee </em></strong>and a nationally renowned teacher having conducted guest artist residencies throughout the United States, Mexico, Europe and Asia. She is the author of Harnessing the Wind: The Art of Teaching Modern Dance (2003) and she received the 1999 <strong><em>Excellence in Teaching Award</em></strong> from Columbia College Chicago.</p>

<p>Originally from San Diego, CA, Jessica Baynes is a contemporary dancer and choreographer whose research focuses on multidisciplinary collaboration, community engagement, and arts for health. Jessica holds a Modern Dance BFA from the University of Utah and a full-time faculty position at Ballet West.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Jessica's work in dance has been featured by TEDx Salt Lake City, United Nations Civil Society, and International Association of Dance Medicine &amp; Science (IADMS).</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Baynes holds a 600-hour Authentic Pilates™ Teacher Certification from the United States Pilates Association and has spent over a decade training in Flamenco and Irish dance. Jessica is passionate about facilitating connection and empathy through dance in the community.</p>

<p>Juliana Azoubel (Juliana Amelia Paes Azoubel)</p> <p>Dance artist and Professor of Dance at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Juliana is pursuing a Ph.D. in Dance at TWU while serving as the Artistic Director of Grupo Aruanda and teacher/lecturer at the School of Grupo Corpo. She holds a BFA in Dance and an M.A. in Latin American Studies (University of Florida) and is Stott Pilates Certified Teacher. Sharing her career between Brazil and the US, She has been an artist in residence at the University of Florida and has performed extensively in Brazil, Europe, and South America. Blending ethnography, traditional and contemporary dance, social, cultural, pedagogical, community, diasporic, intercultural performance,&nbsp;feminist approaches, and migration aspects of dance-making, her artistic/teaching career and mastering several Brazilian Dance forms connect formal, informal, traditional, and contemporary dance communities. The author of several books and articles, her scholarship, artistic creations, and pedagogical approaches based on intercultural and decolonial practices are present in Brazil&#39;s Elementary, Middle, High School, and Adult Dance Education.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Kiri Avelar, MFA, is a&nbsp;<em>fronteriza</em>&nbsp;artist-scholar and educator from the U.S./Mexico borderlands of El Paso, Texas/Cd. Ju&aacute;rez, Chihuahua. The movement between her cultures in the borderlands and time lived away from the area have shaped her interest in accessible, inclusive dance practices anchored in Chicana/Latina feminist epistemologies, border studies, and interdisciplinary frameworks. Her teaching philosophy employs an intersection of translanguaging,&nbsp;<em>sentipensante&nbsp;</em>(sensing/thinking), and critical dance pedagogies in relationship to <em>testimonio</em>, <em>pl&aacute;tica</em>, and <em>convivencia</em>&nbsp;as critical healing agents traversing insider/outsider environments to facilitate intercultural exchange and produce the potentiality for liberatory student, teacher, administrator, familial, and community experiences.</p> <p>A former Jerome Robbins Dance Division Research Fellow for the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and NYU Teaching Fellow for the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, her work engages transnational dance histories of the Latinx diaspora to provoke thought around the border(less) experiences of Latinx artists in/beyond the U.S. and challenge notions of transborder <em>latinidades</em> in historical and contemporary contexts through an in-between space of embodied research and creative practice. Her work has been published in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15290824.2022.2053688?journalCode=ujod20" target="_blank">Journal of Dance Education</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eakinspress.com/danceindex/" target="_blank">Dance Index</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hispanicoutlook.com/education-magazine/june-2021-issue#undefined%2F9" target="_blank">Hispanic Outlook on Education&nbsp;Magazine</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://brill.com/view/title/63154" target="_blank">Critical Storytelling from the Borderlands,</a><em>&nbsp;Liberatory Curriculum Design in Dance Education </em>(Spring 2024),<em> </em>and&nbsp;the forthcoming anthology&nbsp;<em>&iexcl;Somos Tejanas!</em></p> <p>The founding director of La Academia de Ballet Emmanuel&mdash;a dance program she established for the Hogar de Ni&ntilde;os Emmanuel orphanage in Cd. Ju&aacute;rez, Chihuahua, Mexico, where she has worked with her family since 1999&mdash;her advocacy continues through scholarly research in collaboration with the Jos&eacute; Lim&oacute;n Dance Foundation, as a member of the Research Committee for the National Dance Education Organization, and through the co-development of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.latinxdanceeducatorsalliance.com/" target="_blank">Latinx Dance Educators Alliance</a>. Her co-curated exhibition,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nypl.org/events/exhibitions/jose-limon-mestizo-ambassador" target="_blank">The Mestizo as Ambassador: Jos&eacute; Lim&oacute;n and the Transculturation of American Modern Dance</a>&nbsp;for the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, will open at&nbsp;<em>Centro Nacional de las Artes</em>&nbsp;in Mexico City, Mexico, in the Summer of 2023.</p> <p>Following her 11-year tenure with Ballet Hisp&aacute;nico in New York City as a teaching artist, dance faculty, choreographer, performing artist, and Deputy School Director, she is pursuing her doctoral studies as a Chancellor&rsquo;s Fellow in the Department of Theater and Dance at the University of California Santa Barbara.</p>

<p>Lynn completed Hartford Ballet&rsquo;s Teacher Training Certificate Program, and earned a BA in Dance at ASU. She has taught dance to all ages, and is a certified Labanotation teacher. She managed an arts-based charter school, developing curriculum, training staff, writing grants, directing school accountability, and teaching dance.</p> <p>Lynn teaches Creative Dance for Early Childhood for NDEO&rsquo;s Online Professional Development Institute. She worked on the writing team for the Arizona Dance Standards, and worked on a team to develop student assessments/SLOs for dance. Lynn worked on NDEO&rsquo;s DELTA writing team. She helped formed the Arizona Dance Education Organization, serving as Secretary, President and Executive Assistant. Lynn served as the State Affiliate representative on the NDEO board.</p>

Matthew Henley, PhD, MFA is Associate Professor of Dance Education and Affiliated Researcher in the Arnhold Institute for Dance Education Research, Policy & Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University. Henley’s research describes the cognitive and social-emotional skills associated with dance education. Henley's interests include enactive cognition in the arts, developmental and neuroscientific approaches to embodied knowing, research methods for pedagogy, and the pedagogy of research methods. Henley danced professionally in New York City with Sean Curran Company and Randy James Dance Works. Henley earned his doctorate in Educational Psychology: Learning Sciences from the University of Washington, and M.F.A. in Dance from the same institution. He is an Associate Editor of JoDE.

<p>Nancy Ng is the Executive Director of Creativity &amp; Policy, and Director of Early Education at Luna Dance Institute in Berkeley, California. She is on the Professional Learning faculty at Luna where she facilitates professional development workshops; and mentors and coaches teaching artists, teachers, and social service workers committed to dance education as a way to strengthen communities. As the former co-director and choreographer of San Francisco&rsquo;s Asian American Dance Performances she directed outreach programs, and choreographed dances which delved into Asian female stereotypes, immigration and racism. Ng is co-founder of MPACT (Moving Parents and Children Together), Luna&rsquo;s nationally-recognized program for families in the child welfare system.&nbsp; Ng helped author California&rsquo;s Visual and Performing Arts Pre-School Learning Foundation&rsquo;s, and in 2017-18 served on the state department of education&rsquo;s advisory committees to revise the TK-12 California Arts Standards and Frameworks. &nbsp;Ng&rsquo;s leadership service includes California Dance Education Association&rsquo;s past president, editorial review board member for National Dance Education Organization&rsquo;s journal, <em>Dance Education in Practice; </em>and committee member on NDEO&rsquo;s <em>Justice Equity Diversity &amp; Inclusion</em> project<em>. </em>She is a 2016 Milestone leadership award recipient from the National Guild of Community Arts Education, and currently serves on the Guild&rsquo;s board of trustees as the co-chair of their Racial Equity committee.</p>

<p>Sumana Sen Mandala is a Bharata-Nrityam artist.&nbsp; She teaches in studio settings as well as higher education. Her research is a continual re-examining of the meaning of tradition in Indian dance and its value in her and her students&rsquo; contemporary contexts in the US. She developed the Collaborative Action Dance Project to make Indian dance accessible to any mover through movement cultivated by individual lived experiences. In her current projects, Sumana is exploring the physicality of expressive dance (nritya) in Bharata-Nrityam and is working in the collaboration &quot;Prakriti Surging,&quot; a multi-disciplinary project that centers intergenerational female responses to tradition, body, narratives and contemporary voice. Sumana holds an MFA in Dance and is an ASU Gammage Teaching Artist, trained facilitator in the Critical Response Process and racial justice facilitation, and Director of Dansense-Nrtyabodha. (https://www.dansense.org/sumana.html)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Teresa Simpson (MS, BFA) is faculty at Springfield Ballet and the creator of Listen.Think.Leap! A Creative Movement Podcast. Her career as a dance/movement teaching artist centers on outreach and dance/movement integration programming. Past work includes designing and leading STEAM, visual art, and literacy movement classes and training workshops for educators and docents at science centers, libraries, art museums, public schools, and special education institutions in Southwest Missouri. Teresa has served as per course dance faculty at Missouri State University, a teaching artist with Placeworks Arts Outreach, a lead teacher at Music City Montessori and on AATE&rsquo;s Missouri Theatre in Our Schools committee. </strong></p>

Valerie Ifill is a dance artist, educator and researcher interested in the intersections of dance and community, identity development, and embodied processing. Valerie is a collaborative dance artist in Philadelphia and an Assistant Professor of Dance at Drexel University. Through her creative and justice-oriented work, Valerie creates spaces that support honest dialogue and participatory learning through embodied practices. Valerie has founded community dance programs in several states. Her research through Black Girls STEAMing through Dance makes Dance, Code, and Making with electronic textiles accessible to young Black girls. Valerie earned her MFA in Dance from the University of Oregon and Independent Study Program from The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.