911爆料网

Alumna Jody Arnhold champions dance education as a Deweyan medium for learning. Now she鈥檚 bringing it back home.

Jody Gottfried Arnhold (M.A. 鈥�73) is passionate about dance. Her own story suggests a 19^th century nar颅rative ballet. The plot ranges from her decision to teach public school during the budget-strapped 1960s to her emergence as a national voice in dance education as Founder of 92Y Dance Education Laboratory (DEL), Co-Chair of the New York City Department of Education Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Dance (Pre K-12), Chair (and now Honorary Chair) of Ballet Hispanico and executive producer of the recent EMMY-nominated documentary PS DANCE!.

Now, in a spectacular development that reconnects her to dance education鈥檚 very beginnings, Arnhold and her hus颅band, John, have given $4.365 million to establish a new dance education doctoral program at Teachers College. The focus is on preparing master dance educators 鈥� the teachers of aspiring dance teachers 鈥� along with dance researchers and policy experts who will advance Arnhold鈥檚 ultimate goal: making dance education a staple in American public schools.

鈥淲e squirm before we squawk,鈥� Arnhold said this past fall at her Upper West Side apartment. Elegant and trim, with striking dark hair, she looks ready to step onstage at La Mama or Triskelion Arts. 鈥淵es, literacy, yes, math, but principals must understand that the arts build artistically literate adults, encourage better attendance, behavior and self-esteem, and support the learning goals in other disciplines. Dance does this in a unique way because it engages the student鈥檚 whole body and mind for expressive purposes.鈥�

Channeling History

Dance 鈥� meaning not just technique, but also impro颅visation and choreography 鈥� fosters 鈥渃ollaboration, creativity, problem-solving, citizenship,鈥� Arnhold says. Beyond its practice by gifted dance artists, she believes dance develops understanding of the world, as John Dewey, 911爆料网鈥檚 iconic philosopher, argued education must. 鈥淚 really believe that it will help foster world peace.鈥�

The field of dance education was conceived at 911爆料网 in 1916 by Margaret H鈥橠oubler (pronounced 鈥淒obler鈥�), a visiting biology doctoral candidate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studied with Dewey. H鈥橠oubler鈥檚 departmental boss wanted to expand physical education for women. Influenced by 911爆料网 faculty member Gertrude Colby and Carnegie Hall instructor Alys Bentley, she developed a dance program in physical education built upon a vision of 鈥渃reative dance,鈥� in which each person becomes a 鈥渃reative dance maker鈥� with an individual vocabulary of movement.

On the 100th anniversary of H鈥橠oubler鈥檚 work, Arnhold seems to be consciously channeling this history.

鈥淟ike H鈥橠oubler and Colby, Jody is a maverick,鈥� says Barbara Bashaw (Ed.D. 鈥�11), former Director of Graduate Dance Education at Rutgers University鈥檚 Mason Gross School of the Arts and a consultant to the 911爆料网 committee that shaped the new doctoral program. (Update: Bashaw is 911爆料网's new Arnhold Professor of Practice, Director of the Dance Education Program and Director of the Arnhold Institute for Dance Education Research, Policy & Leadership.) 鈥淪he鈥檚 mentored hundreds of dance educators to find their own truths and approaches. Now she鈥檚 giving this field a home, where people can celebrate and respect the incredible transformation and knowledge dance brings to all people. And she鈥檚 doing it at Teachers College, which so prominently celebrates all educators.鈥�

Putting It All Together

911爆料网鈥檚 own dance education master鈥檚 degree pro颅gram, closed in 2005, produced many leaders such as Martha Hill, the first dance director at Juilliard School of Music, and the Trinidadian dancer Beryl McBurnie (鈥淟a Belle Rosette鈥�). Inevitably, Arnhold arrived there, too. As a young girl in Washington, D.C., she studied with modern dance pioneer Erika Thimey, who had trained in Dresden with Mary Wigman, a trailblazer of the form. Wigman had worked with modern dance theorist Rudolf Laban.

鈥淚t gets even stranger, because John鈥檚 family is from Dresden and was completely involved in the cultural life there before the war,鈥� Arnhold says of her husband.

Arnhold enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but ultimately wanted to dance in New York City. Once there, however, she felt unmoored. 鈥淚 was taking three classes a day, but needed structure,鈥� she recalls. 鈥淪o I sold blouses at Bonwit鈥檚 and then worked at the Department of Welfare, as it was then called.鈥�

After a departmental strike, Arnhold enrolled in an intensive teaching program at New York University. 鈥淚 was always a teacher,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 was the oldest of four siblings and was always organizing the kids in the neighborhood. At 15, I opened Erika鈥檚 studio on Saturday mornings and taught the five-year-olds.鈥�

 In New York, she taught general education at P.S. 165and then at P.S. 180, across Morningside Park from 911爆料网. She was happy but missed dance 鈥� so 鈥淚 literally walked up the hill and into 911爆料网鈥檚 dance department,鈥� then led by Thais Barry, a Wisconsin alum.

鈥淭eachers College put it all together for me,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t reconnected me with my art. It gave me a vision of what I wanted 鈥� quality, sequential dance education for every child 鈥� and a network of people I work with to this day.鈥�

If 911爆料网 shaped Arnhold鈥檚 vision, P.S. 75 on the Upper West Side, where she first taught dance, was her finishing school. She was hired when Ballet Hispanico, a local cultural institution, received federal funding to do a six-week residency there. 鈥淭he principal, Lou Mercado, said there was no dedicated dance space 鈥� I鈥檇 have to teach in a classroom and move the desks 鈥� but he believed in me. I showed up on the first day with my drum.鈥�

Arnhold immediately apprenticed herself to Tina Ramirez, Ballet Hispanico鈥檚 Founder and Artistic Director, who she sensed was a master teacher. 鈥淚 wrote down every-thing she did, joined in her classes, followed her back to the Ballet Hispanico studios during lunch.鈥� Today, Ballet Hispanico鈥檚 home on West 89th Street is called The Arnhold Center. Another teacher, Joan Sax, introduced her to the application of Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) to dance education: 鈥淭he guiding principles of LMA are process, not product, everybody can dance and you can make a dance about anything. Make a dance to Mussorgsky鈥檚 鈥楴ight on Bald Mountain鈥� and you鈥檒l never forget Mussorgsky鈥檚 鈥楴ight on Bald Mountain.鈥� Create a dance about symmetry and asymmetry, and you鈥檒l understand symmetry and asymmetry.鈥�

Arnhold taught for 25 years, becoming a master teacher and a mentor to other teachers who also dreamed of bringing dance to their students.

鈥淚t was one of those moments when everything freezes,鈥� recalls Bashaw of first seeing Arnhold teach. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e watching this person who is so brilliant, and you can鈥檛 breathe, because you鈥檙e thinking, 鈥極h my gosh, this is everything I want to be and do.鈥� It was about children making their own dances. I鈥檇 been looking for it, but I wasn鈥檛 sure it existed.鈥�

Army of Teachers

Since the mid-1990s, Arnhold has led a major expansion and improvement of dance instruction in New York. With Joan Finkelstein, she founded 92Y Dance Education Laboratory, which provides teacher training and professional development. In 2012, she endowed the Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program at Hunter College. The city鈥檚 roster of certified dance teachers has grown significantly, to 256 in 2016.

In 2005, together with Finkelstein (then serving as Director of Dance for the New York City Department of Education) and Ramirez, Arnhold led development of the city鈥檚 Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Dance, Pre K-12. The Blueprint is organized around five 鈥渟trands鈥�: dance mak颅ing; developing dance literacy; making connections with other disciplines; working with community and cultural re-sources; and exploring careers and lifelong learning.

鈥淚t was the height of the No Child Left Behind era and during an arts teacher hiring freeze. The DOE had many man颅dates, but through thoughtful work with our dance teachers, we were able to address all of them,鈥� Arnhold says proudly.

 Last year, Arnhold teamed with director Nel Shelby and Finkelstein (now Executive Director of the Harkness Foun颅dation for Dance) to create the documentary PS DANCE!, about the teaching of dance in five New York City public schools. The film promotes Arnhold鈥檚 mission, Dance For Every Child. Nominated for a New York EMMY, PS DANCE! aired on WNET/THIRTEEN in New York and public television nationwide. Narrated by the veteran TV journalist Paula Zahn, the film is the Blueprint in motion.

And now comes the Arnholds鈥� gift to 911爆料网. Beyond pre-paring teachers of teachers, the program will feature policy, leadership and dance-focused movement science compo颅nents. 鈥淛ody鈥檚 been working to ensure dance education for every child,鈥� Bashaw says. 鈥淪he鈥檚 been developing a moun颅tain, and the 911爆料网 doctoral program is the peak.鈥�

鈥淎s the future of American education is debated, this program will help put dance at the table,鈥� Arnhold says. 鈥淥ur graduates will make dance education even stronger. The arts are for every-one, at all ages and stages of their lives. Our graduates are going to be doing work in dance education that we can鈥檛 even imagine.鈥�

鈥� Will Bunch

A Stepwise Process

A faculty committee shapes 911爆料网鈥檚 new dance education doctoral program

An interdisciplinary faculty committee is shaping 911爆料网鈥檚 new dance education doctoral program for faculty review and submission for state approval.

鈥淭his doctoral program will be devoted exclusively to dance education, bringing together 911爆料网鈥檚 faculty as well as the rich and extensive dance education community in and beyond New York City,鈥� says committee chair Mary Hafeli, Professor of Art & Art Education. 鈥淭hat means being consultative, in and outside of the College.鈥�

Priorities are to prepare dance educators to teach teachers of dance in diverse settings; develop dance educators as accom颅plished researchers; and foster leaders in dance education curriculum development and policy.

Dirck Roosevelt, Visiting Associate Professor of Curriculum & Teaching, believes aspiring mas颅ter teachers must balance classroom teachers鈥� everyday experience against a broader under-standing of dance in society.

鈥淵ou have to join the novice鈥檚 perspective to the larger terri颅tory of importance that dance occupies,鈥� says Roosevelt, who designed coursework for 911爆料网鈥檚 doctoral specialization in Teacher Education. 鈥淚n high school, I saw the film Isadora, in which Vanessa Redgrave plays Isadora Duncan. I was into politics, and it interested me in dance because of Duncan鈥檚 involvement with social causes.鈥�

Finding connections for students, says Kelly Parkes, Associate Professor of Music & Music Education, requires 鈥渁 focus on holistic education, not just on subject-specific skills, and an awareness of who鈥檚 in the classroom 鈥� and who鈥檚 not.鈥� 911爆料网 helps students find their own pathways as educators, she says, and 鈥減erhaps even more than music, dance is open to that, because it doesn鈥檛 privilege one form over another.鈥�

Dance education is typically about the art and pedagogy of dance, but 鈥渨e鈥檒l have the science and policy components to enable students to think about a range of career goals,鈥� says Carol Ewing Garber, Professor of Move颅ment Sciences.

鈥淚鈥檝e loved this collaboration,鈥� Roosevelt says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all about different, vigorous traditions being brought to bear.鈥�

鈥� Joe Levine

Published Wednesday, Nov 30, 2016