DEL Dance for Early Childhood
July 6-9, 2026 | 10AM – 4PM
Registration Closes July 1
In-Person
DEL’s Dance for Early Childhood Curriculum encourages learning through play, providing a stimulating, multi-sensory, and nurturing community for diverse young learners to discover their innate movement capacity.
July 6-9, 2026 | 10AM – 4PM
Registration Closes July 1
DEL Dance for Early Childhood
In Person at 92NY
Enter through main entrance at the corner of 92nd and Lexington Avenue (map)
Audience
Open to All
Time
July 6-9, 2026
10 AM - 4 PM
Prerequisites
None
Course Content
DEL’s Dance for Early Childhood Curriculum encourages learning through play, providing a stimulating, multi-sensory, and nurturing community for diverse young learners to discover their innate movement capacity.
Participants in this course will gain experience in creating developmentally appropriate dance lessons and activities for children ages 3-7 years old. Interactive and participatory, this course will cover the following topics: developmentally appropriate lessons and content for early childhood, developmental patterns and the sensory system, games and short activities, basics of early childhood dance lesson planning, applied LMA vocabulary as a springboard for dance learning and lesson plan organization, strategies for effective teaching, and collaborative lesson planning with peers.
Photo by Olivia Ramsey for Nel Shelby Productions
In this professional learning experience, participants will:
- Understand DEL’s application to Laban Movement Analysis vocabulary in the early childhood context.
- Experience and practice using DEL’s Guided Exploration to provide children with movement discovery.
- Learn the DEL Movement Sentence as a way to sequence dances for young children.
- Explore a variety of warm-ups for young children.
- Examine a variety of lesson plans for early childhood.
- Embody and investigate dances from around the world through the lens of early childhood.
- Identify techniques and strategies for conducting early childhood dance classes.
Cost, Discounts, and Scholarships
Email [email protected] for more information
$450 until June 17
($500 after)
Credits: Educators can receive New York State CTLE credits for completed DEL courses.
Discounts
- NYCDOE dance specialists get 50% off every DEL course.
- NYCDOE common branch teachers get 10% off every DEL course.
- NYCDOE Arnhold New Teachers get DEL courses free for their first and second year teaching in the DOE.
Scholarships
Scholarships are available through 92NY.
Learn more about general 92NY scholarships and applications.
(All discounts are applied to the course cost only and participants are responsible for paying 92NY registration fees.)
Meet Your Instructors
Deborah Damast
Deborah Damast (BFA Dance, SUNY Purchase, MA Dance Education, NYU, DEL Certificate) is Associate Professor and Program Director of Dance Education at NYU Steinhardt where in addition to teaching, she is Artistic Director of concerts, Kaleidoscope Dancers, and the Uganda study abroad program. Deborah is the Past-President of the New York...
Erin Lally
Erin Lally (BFA, MA) serves as the Co-Executive Director of the Harkness Dance Center and Director of the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) at 92NY. A dedicated dance educator, leader, and community builder, Erin has spent over two decades sharing her passion for dance with children, educators, and families across public...