Inclusive, Embodied, and Student-Centered Dance Education

Core Summer Themes: Inclusive, Embodied, and Student-Centered Dance Education

 A summer of purposeful, embodied learning.

This July, we invite you to explore a summer of purposeful, embodied learning. Across three in-person courses, we’re focusing on how and why we teach dance.

Student-Centered & Inclusive Education

Each course models how to create dance experiences that are responsive to students’ identities, needs, and innate movement abilities.

  • In DEL Essentials, participants will explore student-centered lesson plan design with an emphasis on inclusive, culturally responsive strategies.
  • In DEL Dance for Early Childhood, lessons are grounded in learning through play, and strategies to provide a nurturing community for diverse young learners to discover their innate movement capacity.
  • In DEL Dance to Belong: An Embodied Dance History of 92NY, participants will explore 92NY’s dance history as a space shaped by many voices—including BIPOC, immigrant, and Jewish artists—and consider how to bring those diverse narratives into the classroom to promote inclusivity.

Photo by Cherylynn Tsushima for Nel Shelby Productions

Embodied & Collaborative Learning

Across all courses, participants engage in embodied learning by exploring ideas through movement, dialogue, and collaborative dance making.

  • In DEL Essentials, the DEL Dance Framework and applied LMA serve as entry points for movement generation, reflection, and peer collaboration.
  • In DEL Dance for Early Childhood, participants use games, rhythm, and sensory-based exploration to model the kind of playful, process-driven learning that supports young children’s engagement.
  • In DEL Dance to Belong, embodiment is a tool for inquiry. Participants respond to archival materials and historical narratives with collaborative dance making opportunities to bring dance history to life.

Photo by Danica Paulos for Nel Shelby Productions

Meaningful Content with Real-World Connections

Each course emphasizes teaching dance with intention, using movement to explore ideas, stories, and lived experience.

  • In DEL Essentials, lessons are designed to support the whole student, connecting dance to identity, expression, and social-emotional learning.
  • In DEL Dance for Early Childhood, movement supports imagination, narrative, and the developmental needs of young learners.
  • In DEL Dance to Belong, participants engage with dance as a lens for history and culture, helping students connect movement to heritage and community.

Photo by Cherylynn Tsushima for Nel Shelby Productions

Join us this summer, in-person at 92NY for:

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