ABOUT DEL

DEL’s Story

Before language, before we learn how to explain ourselves, we move. It’s our first form of expression. And yet for decades, dance was the least likely art form to be taught in schools. Music and visual arts programs were standard, but dance was often the missing piece.
 
That started to change in New York City 30 years ago, thanks to a pioneering initiative: the Dance Education Laboratory, known simply as DEL and housed within the Harkness Dance Center at 92NY.

Start with the Teachers

DEL began in 1995 with a clear and practical idea from its founder and visionary, Jody Gottfried Arnhold: if you want to bring dance to children, start by training the teachers.
 
At the time, Arnhold had recently begun her term of service on the 92NY Board. Working closely with the Dance Center’s then leader, Joan Finkelstein, and founding faculty Ann Biddle, they launched a single weekend workshop: Thunder and Lightning Dance.
 
Teachers came. The workshop was successful. It was clear they had tapped into something real. What emerged was a way of teaching rooted in artistry and grounded in the belief that every child deserves the chance to experience dance. DEL was about preparing and empowering teachers – giving them the tools and the confidence to bring movement, imagination, and emotional awareness into their classrooms and into the lives of their students.
 
Thirty years later, that idea has changed thousands of classrooms. DEL has become a kind of professional home for educators, a place where teachers and artists come together to share what works, to learn from one another, and to grow. 
Jody Gottfried Arnhold, DEL Founder, facilitating DEL Essentials | Photo by Cherylynn Tsushima

Our Impact

DEL’s impact includes professional learning for thousands of teachers, PreK-12 curricula, a year-long teacher training program, and partnerships with professional dance companies and artists. But talk to DEL-trained educators and they’ll often tell you the most important thing they gained was not just training. It’s belonging. Since its inception, DEL has provided a welcoming and inclusive community that nurtures and supports professional learning across the lifespan. DEL’s comprehensive curriculum equips dance educators with the tools they need to succeed in the dance classroom.
 
Whether you are a teaching artist, studio teacher, classroom teacher, higher education faculty member, professional dancer, choreographer, or movement practitioner, DEL is here for you. 

DEL Provides

DEL offers a variety of professional learning programs for dance educators and the dance community at large nationally and globally. 
 
DEL’s offerings include: 
 
DEL collaborates with 92NY’s Nursery School, Parenting Center, Camps, and Harkness School of Dance to offer dance classes informed by the DEL Model.
 
To learn more about DEL’s Programs, reach out to [email protected]. 

DEL Mission

DEL inspires dance educators to engage in creative, transformational, and ongoing professional learning centered in the artistry of teaching and focused on humanistic principles of equity and justice. DEL provides an inclusive, nurturing, and dynamic laboratory where dancers and educators from diverse communities gather to experience embodied exploration and discovery, collaborative dance-making, culturally responsive practices, and collective self-reflection.
 
DEL…art at the heart of teaching™
Photo Credit: John Suhar

DEL Model

Rooted in innovative and current educational philosophies, the DEL model is an inclusive and accessible framework designed to be applied in a wide variety of dance education contexts for all learners and practitioners in dance education.

Contact Us

To learn more about DEL’s Programs, reach out to [email protected].

Our History

Jody Gottfried Arnhold founded the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) in 1995 at the 92nd Street Y, with Joan Finkelstein as Founding Director and Ann Biddle as Founding Faculty. These three visionaries saw a need for a practical and accessible professional learning program in dance education. Since its inception, DEL has provided a welcoming and inclusive community that nurtures and supports professional learning across the lifespan. DEL’s comprehensive curriculum equips dance educators with the tools they need to succeed in the dance classroom.

L to R: Ann Biddle (Director, DEL Institute), Jody Gottfried Arnhold (DEL Founder), Erin Lally (Director, DEL). Photo Credit Whitney Browne
DEL 30th Logo Black

Celebrating 30 Years!

We’ve hosted many special events this year to celebrate our 30th Anniversary, including Movement Sentence Choirs across the nation and an anniversary celebration and reception at 92NY!

Learn More

DEL Mission Statement

DEL inspires dance educators to engage in creative, transformational, and ongoing professional learning centered in the artistry of teaching and focused on humanistic principles of equity and justice. DEL provides an inclusive, nurturing, and dynamic laboratory where dancers and educators from diverse communities gather to experience embodied exploration and discovery, collaborative dance-making, culturally responsive practices, and collective self-reflection.

DEL…art at the heart of teaching™

Photo Credit: John Suhar

DEL Provides

The Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) offers a variety of professional learning programs for dance educators and the dance community at large nationally and globally. DEL’s offerings include in-person and online courses, intensives, and events scheduled throughout the year. DEL also provides customized workshops, consultancies, and curriculum development for a range of cultural institutions, community organizations, schools, and professional dance companies.

The DEL Institute – Teacher Training Program, launched in 2022, offers dance educators access to a year-long online teacher training program that includes one-on-one coaching, mentoring, and a final practicum.

DEL collaborates with 92NY’s Nursery School, Parenting Center, and Harkness School of Dance to offer dance classes informed by the DEL Model.

To learn more about DEL’s Programs, contact DEL Director, Erin Lally, at [email protected].

DEL Model

Rooted in innovative and current educational philosophies, the DEL model is an inclusive and accessible framework designed to be applied in a wide variety of dance education contexts for all learners and practitioners in dance education.

Banner Image Photo Credit: Danica Paulos

Receive FREE dance education materials when you sign up for DEL's e-newsletter!​

* indicates required