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NYSDEA

A letter from the President.

Dear members and colleagues,

The first 6 months of my Presidency have proven to be very busy and eventful. Taking over the reins from Deborah Damast, and those who have been president before her, has been a daunting task. As I sit here at my computer typing, I can hear fireworks in the distance celebrating Gay Pride, which I am taking as a good omen, because, while we have faced some challenges unique to this year, we also have a lot to celebrate.

First and foremost, I want to thank the members of the board for stepping up when needed, for putting up with transitions that were unexpected, and for supporting NYSDEA as we move forward to better meet the needs of dance educators in New York State as well as the demands of an ever-growing New York State Education Department. Stepping up to these challenges can only solidify our position to promote dance as a necessary aspect of every child’s education.

What we have accomplished so far this year:

We are now officially able to offer Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE ) credits to all teachers who attend any of our conferences or workshops. This is a very big deal and will allow you to add your time spent at our conferences and workshops to count toward your hours of CTLE credits that you may need depending on your teaching situation. We hope you all will take advantage of this new opportunity.

On that note, we will be having our first full day intensive on September 9th with experts from the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries and Functional Anatomy with Nancy and Allegra Romita. I hope you will take advantage of this new initiative and opportunity. Please see info and details for registering here. Big shout out to the Conference/Workshop coordinators Susan Epstein and Elizabeth Gosselin.

As many of you know the State is rolling out the new Arts Standards this September and NYSDEA will be responsible for training fellow dance teachers on their implementation. We will have representatives being trained over the summer and we will begin holding CTLE certified PD training of dance educators as soon as we can. This is a very big deal and has taken a lot of work to coordinate and it is not over yet. Big shout out to Kerrianne Cody for taking the lead on this and for Abigail Agresta-Stratton for advocating for dance at the NYSAAE reorganization.

On other fronts:

We have created new informational materials that Daniel Reichert has been using for advocacy. We hope to be hearing more on this front as he and Shirlene Blake move forward with promoting dance on both the local and national level.

Our new website is nearing completion and I expect that Kristina Walton will have it up and running sometime this summer. Big shout out to our Administrative Assistant, Allison Bohman for working closely with Kristina on this and for keeping all of us up to date on issues through her e-mail blasts.

Karen Camp has been hard at work on the Awards for the upcoming NDEO conference and after many revision we have created new nomination forms for all of the awards. You can get all the info elsewhere here. Please check it out and nominate a fellow dance educator for one of these awards.

We have created new promotional materials for our National Honor Society for Dance Arts and Cynthia Hanna has been using these to promote schools starting new chapters.

We are still working on what our next fundraiser will be and KristiAnne Francis and I have been brainstorming some ideas. We are hoping to bring on a new member to help with organizing some of the initiatives we have discussed.

Our Secretary Deborah Lipa-Ciotta has been charged with organizing all of our institutional records as well as coming up with a plan to maintain records of all CTLE recipients for 8 years as required by the state.

And as if that wasn’t enough for the first 6 months of 2017, we elected a new student representative to the board. Please welcome Kristin Dowdy.

On one final note: our long-time board member and Treasurer, Mary Burns has decided to leave the board to concentrate on her work with Pilates training and teaching. I personally want to thank her for her years of service to the board as our treasurer. I am sure that I speak for all of the members of the board in wishing her all the best as she moves forward in her pursuit of her passion. As a result of her leaving we do have a vacancy on the board and will be putting out a call for anyone interested in being on the board as taking over the position of Treasurer. To find out more about this position, please click here.

So as you can see we have accomplished a lot in the first 6 months of my Presidency and we have a lot to look forward to as we move ahead with some of our new initiatives. We are here to serve you, our members. Please let us know what is important to you and how you would like to see us advocating for you and dance education throughout New York State.

Remember: “You don’t stop dancing because you grow old, You grow old because you stop dancing”

Yours Truly.

Andrew N. Jannetti

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NYSDEA One Day Intensive for Dance Educators with Harkness Center for Dance Injuries and Functional Awareness

When: September 9, 10AM-5:30PM
Where: NYU Steinhardt, 35 West 4th Street
NYSDEA/NDEO members and non-members pricing
Student pricing available

*NYS CTLE Credits Are Available*

*Register for ALL DAY and get TWO great workshops for ONE great price*

*Registration for individual workshops is also available*

Visit HERE to register today!

Class Descriptions

10am-1pm: Understanding Dance Injuries and Wellness for the Dance Educator Harkness Center for Dance Injuries will present an evidence-based, three-hour workshop for dance educators on aspects of injury prevention from a pedagogical standpoint: how can we keep our students safe and healthy across ages, levels, dance disciplines, and quality of dance facilities? Specific topics to be covered include: precautions and training considerations for the adolescent dancer;debunking common training myths through functional biomechanics; assessing pointe readiness; biopsychosocial considerations related to the incidence of dance injuries; teaching methods for career longevity; and self-care for teachers.The workshop will be interactive in nature, including lecture, personal movement experience, and Q&A.

2pm-5:30pm: Honoring Individual Differences of the Pelvis: Functional Awareness® Strategies to Improve Stability and Resiliency of the Hip Joint

This Functional Awareness® session employs a method of movement inquiry integrating embodied anatomy and reflective practice. This workshop offers movement explorations to discover the structure and function of the pelvis. Participants learn functional anatomy principles to differentiate between skeletal limitations and muscular factors governing turnout and learn skills to enhance movement potential within each dancers unique structure. Participants acquire useful cueing strategies to improve dynamic alignment, lateral rotation, and to facilitate efficiency in action.

Follow NYSDEA on Facebook for updates!

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Thumbs Up to Gina Marie Borden!

Gina Marie Borden is a recent graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University, where she majored in dance and completed a program in women’s leadership. Her senior piece was a solo created collaboratively with former Trisha Brown Dance Company member Mariah Maloney. She has performed in works by Susan Rethorst, Beth Gill, and Lance Gries at New York Live Arts, and in a work by Jon Kinzel at Miller Theater. Borden choreographed Columbia University’s 119th Annual Varsity Show, performed a solo in GROUNDPLAN at La Plaza Cultural, and created work for Fete de l’Hurricane at Red Bean Studios. Other performance credits include Ferrum by Carte Blanche Performance. Borden studied in Paris under the direction of Michael Foley and Colleen Thomas in June 2012. Borden attended Amalgamate Dance Company’s BREAK OUT dance program in Italy, where she performed in works by Alana Marie Urda and Jessica Taylor. Most recently, she was cast as a part of Amalgamate Dance Company’s Guest Artist Showcase 6 in a work by Bryan Strimpel. She has been leading the Educational Programming for Jessica Lewis Arts for the past year, a non-profit Arts Education and Dance Company. As part of her duties Ms. Borden arranges all class schedules, outreach workshops, teaches with the junior company, and leads all rehearsals for Jessica Lewis Arts. Borden also balances her work with JLA against a busy schedule working with the Barnard Alumni Office, Gibney Dance, and as a freelance dance and teaching artist.

NYSDEA wants to know who deserves a thumbs up, so please send in your accolades to Allison Bohman, a.bohman@nysdea.org.

Include the following: Email subject: THUMBS UP Dance Recognition. Name of person or Institution. Job Position/Title and/or brief biography. A picture of the individual (Please limit your answer to three sentences or fewer).

The next Thumbs Up will be given next month - let us know who it should be!

See past Thumbs Up from NYSDEA

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Vision Document for Dance 2050: The Future of Dance in Higher Education

This completed Vision Document was presented to DANCE 2050 participants at the 2014 National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) National Conference in Chicago, IL. Those attending, along with those contributing electronically, reviewed the document and voted to accept it as a shared vision of those participating in the blind reviewed DANCE 2050 project.

You can find the whole document here:

Vision Document Dance 2050 (190 KB)

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The New York State Dance Education Association (NYSDEA) is growing and evolving to meet the needs of our dance community in the 21st century. The officers of NYSDEA invite you to join us as we enter a new and exciting era for dance in New York State.

NYSDEA serves dance educators who teach diverse populations in schools of dance, PreK-12 schools, post-secondary institutions and education outreach programs. Click here to see a list of our institutional members.

NYSDEA is a state affiliate of the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO). When you become a member of NDEO, you automatically become a member of NYSDEA. Checks are made payable to NDEO and a portion is returned to NYSDEA.

We look forward to forging new creative paths in dance and dance education. We thank you in advance for your consideration in joining NYSDEA.

Benefits of membership include:

Networking for dance educators across the state and nation
Membership in the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO)
The Journal of Dance Education, a national peer review publication
National NDEO Conferences
NYSDEA Workshops throughout the state
NYSDEA Website: Information sharing, Dance events and calendar, Program announcements
National Honor Society for Dance Arts
A major voice in developing NYS dance policy and curricular issues

Dance educators are defined as, but not delimited to, those teaching or administering dance programs in K-12, higher education, performing arts organizations, private studios and schools of dance, cultural/community centers, etc. It includes dance specialists, teaching artists and choreographers, artists-in-schools, studio teachers, and generalists teaching dance or movement education.

To become a member of NYSDEA, go to the NDEO website at www.ndeo.org/membership.

You can register online and pay by credit card or print an invoice and mail in a check to the NDEO home office. This process automatically registers you as a member of our organization. If you do not have internet access and wish to join our organization, please call 301-585-2880 and your registration can be taken over the phone.

The New York State Dance Education Association (NYSDEA) is growing and evolving to meet the needs of our dance community in the 21st century. The officers of NYSDEA invite you to join us as we enter a new and exciting era for dance in New York State. NYSDEA serves dance educators who teach diverse populations in schools of dance, PreK-12 schools, post-secondary institutions and education outreach programs.