Contact Jobs Board Membership Home

NYSDEA

Save the Date!

New York State Dance Education Association Conference:

Techniques for Self-Preservation

NYU Steinhardt

New York, NY

March 1-2, 2014

Join NYSDEA for its winter conference at NYU Steinhardt this March to explore the role of somatics and science in dance education. The theme for this year will focus on “Techniques for Self-Preservation,” including:

Compositional workshops that aim to integrate kinesiology and anatomy

Movement sessions that will provide prevailing research on stretching, self-myofascial release, and core strengthening techniques.

Participants will also have the opportunity to share ideas and explore their inquiries with experts in a variety of fields related to dance education in Sunday’s BreakOut Sessions. The BreakOut Sessions will include topics such as: class management; technology; world dance; and health and wellness.

Greater details and registration will be available soon.
_____________________

NYSDEA Accepting Board Member Nominations

Attention NYSDEA members: Do you have leadership skills you’d like to share? Would you like to make a difference in dance education for New York State? If yes, please consider running for the NYSDEA board in 2014.

In 2014, our long-standing board member Barry Blumenfeld will finish his second consecutive term, and therefore completes the maximum time for board member terms. Barry is the Director of Website, so NYSDEA seeks a member with technology and graphic design skills to step in to that role. However, if your specialty is in another area: advocacy, education, NHSDA, mentorship, conferences, finances, fund-raising, etc., we would still love to add you to the team. You may choose to self-nominate or nominate a colleague. Board terms are three years and commence March 2014. All nominees must belong to NDEO and live in New York State.

In addition, the student representative term also concludes in March 2014. Allison Bohman who currently holds this position, has made wonderful contributions to the board, including representing the arts in Washington DC and creating the NYSDEA Facebook page. If you know of a candidate you would like to nominate, please send his/her name and contact information, along with a written description of the candidate’s qualifications. Student reps should possess skills in leadership, scholarship, organization, and have facility with social media. The student representative is a non-voting member of the board, but participates in Arts Advocacy Day in Washington DC, attends and contributes to NYSDEA board meetings, represents the student population of NYSDEA, and is given a $500 stipend to attend the NDEO conference.

Interested members should contact: President, Anne Harris Wilcox, at annehw@rochester.rr.com

_____________________

NYSDEA would like to extend a special thanks to the five sponsors of the New York State reception in Miami:

SUNY Brockport

University of Buffalo

Hofstra University

Hunter College

New York University

We are grateful for your continued support.

The NYSDEA board looks forward to seeing everyone next year in Chicago!

_____________________

Patricia Dye Receives the Diana Domoracki-Kisto Award

NYSDEA is pleased to announce the first recipient of the Diana Domoracki-Kisto Award for Pre-K-12 Dance Educators, in honor of former Board Member and inspirational dance educator, Diana Domoracki-Kisto. This $500.00 award, to be used by the recipient towards the cost of attending the NDEO conference in Miami, represents NYSDEA's commitment to support NDEO conference attendance of current leaders in the dance education field.

We wish to thank all of the outstanding applicants, and encourage them to apply again next year.

Congratulations to Patricia Dye, recipient of the first Diana Domoracki-Kisto Award!

Patricia Dye, a native of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, graduated from Adelphi University with a BFA in Dance and Dance Education and received her MFA in Dance Education and Performance from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education. Ms. Dye is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Passing Ancestral Knowledge Along Dance Company, founded in 1993. She is a trained facilitator of and contributor to the NYCDOE Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Dance Grades PreK-12. She has taught Professional Dance Education workshops for NYCDOE Region 6, 7 and 8 and was the Coordinator for the Region 8 Family Arts Festival from 2005 to 2007. Ms. Dye has also presented workshops for conferences given by organizations such as the National Dance Education Organization, Society Dance History Scholars, National Dance Association, Congress on Research in Dance, and International Association of Blacks In Dance.

For seven years, Ms. Dye served as Artistic Director for the Restoration Dance Theatre at Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and their Junior Dance Company. She taught yoga and dance at Young Adult Borough Center for six years and at the Saturday Arts Dance Laboratory for Region 8 for three years. She is a certified fitness professional and for over twenty years has trained clients ranging from Wall Street professionals to movie stars.

In her professional performing career, Ms. Dye has danced with Forces of Nature Dance Company, Jubilation Dance Company, and danced throughout Europe on a three-year tour with High Leggs of London and Balletshule Beckman (West Germany). She has served as Dance Captain and Assistant to Dr. Charles Davis on numerous occasions since 1994, including Dance Africa in New York. She has toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Caribbean, choreographing for and performing in videos, industrial shows, Broadway shows, television commercials, movies, master classes, workshops and conferences.

Currently, Ms. Dye is teaching and directing at Science Skills Center High School for Science, Technology and Creative Arts, where she has worked in the Dance Department for the past seventeen years. Her work there includes directing a dance company (Jow-Ile-Bailar) and two dance clubs (Jow-Ile-Bailar & New Wave) and serving as a cooperating teacher for dance education students. She is the author of several articles and is in the process of writing two books on her mentor, Dr. Charles Davis. She plans to pursue her Doctoral Degree in Dance and Dance Education.

_____________________

Dance Teacher Magazine Honors Abigail Agresta-Stratton

Congratulations to Abigail Agresta-Stratton, who was awarded the Dance Teacher Magazine K – 12 Award. Abigail is an Advisory Committee member of NYSDEA and a former President of the Board of Directors. The award recognizes Abigail's accomplishments in the field of K - 12 dance education, specifically honoring her for her commitment to dance education and dance advocacy, her ability to rebound after the West Islip High School Dance Program was cut by 38 % and then cut entirely, for having the first high school dance program to pilot the Research in Dance Literature Review data index, and for increasing the amount of student choreography.

Read the full Dance Teacher Magazine article.

_____________________

Thumbs Up!

Thumbs Up to Hetty King for Presenting “Scaffolding K-5 Curriculum in line with the NYC Blueprint and the Core Curriculum” at the 2013 NDEO conference in Miami!

After seventeen years working as a professional dancer and choreographer, Hetty began working as a dance artist/educator in K-12 dance studio settings.She has stretched her knowledge of dance every year, participating in numerous workshops. She also proctors and adjudicates through Arts Achieve. She is a member and cohort coach in the Artful Learning Communities Project working to develop successful formative assessments for learning in dance.Hetty values peer dance discourse and exchange and believes it is important to maintain as dance education is aligned with the Common Core and new NYC teacher evaluation rubric.She is currently working as a dance educator for PS 705K, Brooklyn Arts and Science Elementary School and PS 267M, the East Side Elementary School.

Thumbs Up to Randi Sloan for fostering "thinking dancers!"

Randi Sloan has taught in and chaired the dance department at The Dalton School in NYC for the past 25 years. She has fostered a program that is known as a destination for ‘thinking dancers.’ The program focuses on developing kinesthetic awareness, problem solving, creative exploration, and nonlinear thought.

Randi defines her role as a collaborator and resource and designs the curriculum so that students take ownership of their choreography. Students draw upon dance from diverse traditional and contemporary cultures. In addition to the core modern dance curriculum, the dance program at the Dalton School incorporates ballet, jazz, African dance, hip-hop, yoga, tai chi, capoeira, Greek, and Native American Dance. Creative movement is seen as the basic essential mode of instruction, rather than as a vehicle for performance. Student choreography is presented at the school’s annual dance concert. The students decide on a group common theme (for example; visual art, poetry, text, dreams, containers, fairy tales) that serves to unify the group and provide a structure for each student's individual dance. Through the year-long creative process, students evolve as choreographers, clarifying their thinking about movement as art.

In addition to teaching at Dalton, Ms. Sloan is an adjunct professor at New York University in the Steinhardt School of Dance Education. She has served as consultant and teacher of dance pedagogy for the New York City Department of Education. In prior years, Randi Sloan taught as guest artist in residence at Oakland University, Wayne State University and Milan.

See past Thumbs Up from NYSDEA

_____________________

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.