Overview

Week 1: DEL Essentials

June 29-July 1

The DEL Essentials course is an introductory course that provides an overview of the key components of the DEL model of teaching dance to children and teenagers. In this 3-day, in-person course, participants will deepen their understanding of the benefits of a comprehensive dance education and explore the DEL pedagogy through a range of learning activities which will include guided movement exploration using the DEL Dance Framework, basics of lesson planning and design, and collaborative dance-making strategies. Learning activities will be anchored in student-centered, inclusive, and culturally responsive instructional practices, centered in social-emotional learning (SEL) competencies. 

Week 2: DEL Dance for Early Childhood

July 6-9

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.

Week 3: DEL Dance to Belong: An Embodied Dance History of 92NY

July 13-16

In this in-person, embodied dance history course, participants will engage with 92NY’s exhibit, Dance to Belong: A History of Dance at 92NY, which explores 92NY’s historical importance as a sanctuary space in which dance history was made. Course participants will learn about the immigrants, BIPOC, and Jewish dance artists who made 92NY home from 1874 to 2024, including pillars of American dance history like Alvin Ailey, Martha Graham, Anna Sokolow, Jose Limón, Pearl Primus, and many more. Through culturally responsive and inquiry-based learning, this course will include engagement with archival resources, collaborative dance making opportunities, individual and group reflection, and lesson planning activities. Dance educators will leave with a deeper understanding of 92NY dance history to bring back to their students.