The DEL Institute

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DEL’s Year-Long Teacher Certificate Program for Dance Educators Dedicated to Ongoing Professional Learning and Advancement in Dance Education

The DEL Institute Features:

Professional learning across the career continuum for everyone who teaches dance, from public school dance educators and college dance professors, dance studio teachers, to professional dancers and choreographers with an interest in community engagement.

High quality training from top experts in the field with years of experience teaching and facilitating professional development courses using the DEL model

Extensive virtual programming offering a comprehensive approach to dance education with an emphasis on culturally-responsive pedagogy

A flexible and sequential asynchronous or hybrid program to meet the needs of practitioners in the field

Join our Waitlist for 2023-24

DEL Institute Testimonials from Past Students

Earn a DEL Teacher Certificate

DEL’s Teacher Certificate Program is offered in an asynchronous format and is equivalent to 200 course hours.

Participants will: 

  • Receive extensive training in all aspects of the DEL Model
  • Discover and refine your unique voice as a dance educator and artist
  • Engage in an immersive online learning experience
  • Design dynamic dance lesson plans and units that engage all learners
  • Receive personalized one-on-one coaching and mentorship from experts in the field
  • Connect to a dedicated and passionate community of dance educators from across the country and the world
  • Complete a teaching practicum and final project to add to your professional portfolio
  • Enjoy DEL’s nationally acclaimed and expertly designed courses at a discounted rate
  • Apply the DEL Model to your distinct teaching interests and contexts

Our Curriculum

The DEL Teacher Certificate program combines DEL’s diverse course offerings, individual coaching and mentoring, and peer cohort support with a customized practicum experience.

All participants are required to complete a series of seven consecutive courses which are all offered asynchronously online. You will be expected to complete assignments within two weeks following the end date of each course, but you will have flexibility in terms of when you access and work on course material each week.

The first course in the series is DEL Foundations (Nov 2022 – Jan 2023), a 12-week introductory course that provides an overview of the DEL Model. The six core content area courses run in consecutive order from February 2023 through August 2023.

DEL Teacher Certificate participants will engage in six 2-hour cohort seminars, including Orientation & Graduation. DEL Faculty visit the cohort seminar to share expertise in specialized topics related to dance and dance education.

One-on-one coaching sessions with DEL Institute Director, Ann Biddle, will guide the participant through the entirety of the Teacher Certificate Program and will provide valuable professional expertise and support. 

Participants will also receive personal mentoring with select DEL Faculty who will guide students through the DEL Teacher Certificate final project and practicum process.

The DEL Teacher Certificate Program culminates in a customized teaching practicum and final project scheduled for the Fall of 2023. Designed to enhance one’s professional portfolio in the field of dance education, each participant will work under the guidance of a DEL Mentor teacher to design, implement, and document a curricular project with students.

Download the full DEL Teacher Certificate brochure here

DEL Teacher Certificate Pathways!

As part of the DEL Institute, we offer different DEL Teacher Certificate pathways, to meet your personal and professional schedule.

DEL Teacher Certificate Hybrid Pathway: 

For participants who live in the NYC area and are able to attend in-person DEL courses, we are offering a hybrid DEL Teacher Certificate pathway that combines asynchronous courses and synchronous courses. 

DEL Teacher Certificate Alumni Pathway:  

DEL alumni who have completed DEL Foundations between 2018-2022 are able to waive the DEL Foundations course requirement and can enroll in the DEL Teacher Certificate program for a discounted rate. Participants in the DEL Alumni Pathway are still required to complete the 6 core content courses and complete a Final Project. 

Email DEL Institute Director, Ann Biddle @[email protected] for more information about designing a DEL Teacher Certificate Hybrid pathway or a DEL Alumni Certificate Pathway.

DEL Teacher Certificate Perks

  • One-on-one coaching and mentoring sessions with the DEL Institute Director, Ann Biddle, who will guide the student through the entirety of the certificate program and provide valuable professional support and expertise
  • Access to high-quality curricular materials such as lesson plans, dance units, and extensive resources for the dance classroom
  • Peer feedback/cohort engagement during the entirety of the DEL Teacher Certificate experience
  • Customized DEL practicum and supervision (synchronous via zoom or in person) either at the participant’s home school or at a designated site with a DEL dance mentor
  • Free access to DEL synchronous courses and events throughout the 2022-23 academic year
  • Ongoing professional learning and support
  • Opportunity to continue to earn advanced professional learning certificates such as DEL Facilitators in Training (DEL FIT) which focuses on adult learning facilitation
"This course has been instrumental in giving me more tools to better understand and use LMA. In fact, with the coronavirus pandemic shutting down our ability to gather physically together in spaces, the education that I have received throughout this course has directly impacted the way I’ve been able to translate the work that we do in the classroom into an e-learning platform. DEL has challenged, encouraged and inspired me to invest in myself, while also providing me with applicable lesson ideas and structures to enhance the work I currently do."
Michelle Modrzejewski
DEL Student

Invest in Professional Advancement

$1,950 Early-bird discount for DEL Institute Waitlist 
$2,250 Regular admission 

In order to provide individualized support for DEL Institute Teacher Certificate participants, enrollment is limited to 20 participants. 

Join The Waitlist To Save

Need-based scholarships and payment plans are available.

Will your School Administration Help Fund Your Enrollment?

Copy our letter-writing template to request financial assistance from your Professional Learning budget! Financial assistance and payment plans are available. Please contact DEL Director, Erin Lally for more information: [email protected]

Copy Our Letter Template

Meet the DEL Institute Director

Ann Biddle

Ann Biddle M.A., has been a dance educator, staff developer, curriculum consultant, writer, and choreographer for the past 30 years. She is currently the Director of the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) Institute for Professional Learning and Advancement and the Director of DEL at Jacob’s Pillow. As the Founding Faculty of the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) at the 92nd Street Y with Jody Arnhold (1994 to present) Ms. Biddle has designed and taught multiple courses for DEL including Foundations in Dance Education, DEL Essentials, Planet Dance-Multicultural Dance Education, Dancing in Early Childhood, Dance and Nature, Teaching from Transformation to Inspiration (Tina Curran), Dance and Literacy (Barbara Bashaw), Teaching Dance Technique, DEL: The Next Generation, the DEL Facilitators Training Program, Dance for Social Change, Hip Hop to the Top (Shakia Barron & Eli Kababa), Tracing Footsteps, and the DEL Essentials OPDI course for NDEO. Ms. Biddle has been a Dance Lecturer at UMASS/Amherst Dance Department, Mount Holyoke College, and Skidmore College. Read Ann’s full biography.

Meet your DEL Institute Faculty