This course investigates the history of dance, primarily Western and primarily theatrical, from antiquity to the beginning of the twentieth century. The student will explore the development of dance forms chronologically in relation to significant social, political, and cultural movements of each era. Course materials will include texts and related archival materials. Dance philosophy and aesthetics will be studied to address the development of dance in Western culture, while acknowledging the interplay of dance practices in non-Western cultures.

The DEL Essentials is a studio-based introductory course held at the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center that provides an overview of the key components of the nationally acclaimed DEL (Dance Education Laboratory) Model of teaching dance to children and teenagers. Participants will examine Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) as a framework for dynamic and scaffolded lesson planning, explore the DEL method of collaborative dance making, gain effective teaching strategies, and learn how to make connections between dance and other disciplines. Students interested in our partnership program with the 92nd Street Y Dance Education Laboratory must contact Lucy Winner (Lucy.Winner@sunyempire.edu) for permission to enroll in this study. Students will also be expected to register at DEL (Dance Education Laboratory).

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Dance (DANC). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Dance (DANC). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.

This study is a survey of dance history, primarily Western and theatrical, from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present. The student will investigate the development of dance styles, techniques and practices within their historical and socio-cultural contexts. Diverse works by seminal twentieth-century choreographers will be viewed and analyzed. The student will discuss the study materials with the mentor at scheduled meetings throughout the term. Responses to the study materials will be in the form of a series of short essays. There will be archival materials for review in conjunction with the readings. The study will culminate in a research project exploring an aspect Western concert dance during the twentieth century to the present day.

The DEL Foundations online course provides an overview of the key components of the nationally acclaimed DEL model of teaching dance in a wide variety of learning contexts. This 10-week asynchronous course is based on the highly popular DEL Foundations course that has been taught at DEL 92NY in New York City since DEL’s inception in 1995. Developed by DEL Founder, Jody Gottfried Arnhold with Ann Biddle as Founding Faculty, the course has evolved and adapted over its long history. This current iteration has been updated by Ann Biddle and Catherine Gallant and reflects current 21st-century dance education practice and pedagogy. Updated and modified as an asynchronous learning experience, participants in this course explore DEL’s comprehensive and inclusive model of dance education. Participants will be introduced to the DEL Dance Framework, based on LMA as applied to dance education, as an organizing system for dynamic dance making and scaffolded lesson planning. Participants interact in the online community by engaging in collaborative dance making, practice teaching, and self and peer reflection. In addition, participants gain an understanding of broad developmental benchmarks and effective and inspired teaching strategies to support diverse learners in a culturally responsive environment and align with local, state and/or national dance standards. Finally, participants in this course articulate a vision statement that represents their core Teacher’s Heart and consider applications of the DEL Model to one’s unique teaching context. The DEL Foundations curriculum is aligned with the NYC Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts: Dance Pre-K – 12 and the National Core Arts Standards in Dance (NCCAS). Students interested in our partnership program with the 92nd Street Y Dance Education Laboratory must contact Dr. Cindy Bates (cynthia.bates@sunyempire.edu) for permission to enroll in this course. Students will also be expected to register and pay an additional fee at DEL (Dance Education Laboratory)

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Dance (DANC). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.

This course is a cross-cultural examination of dance traditions from around the world in their historical, critical, artistic and socio-cultural contexts. Students will learn to observe and contextualize a variety of dance traditions and differentiate folk, popular and classical traditions. Students will learn and apply culturally relevant terminology and concepts to describe, critique, and write about dance from critical, analytical and ethnographic (writing about culture) perspectives. Students must have upper-level standing with advanced level academic skills. This course was previously ART-223504 Dance Across World Cultures. Prerequisites: .

In this course, participants delve into the key components of cultivating culturally responsive dance-making and pedagogy in dance education based on the work of Dr. Nyama McCarthy-Brown. Videos and additional resources guide dance educators through a process of self-examination and teacher reflection while providing culturally responsive teaching tools. Participants will examine how culture, identity, and race show up in their dance-making and teaching practice and will reflect on how race and other marginalizing stereotypes operate in their learning environments. In addition, participants will be given building blocks of culturally responsive anti-racist teaching strategies to de-center Whiteness in the dance classroom. Students interested in our partnership program with the 92nd Street Y Dance Education Laboratory must contact Cindy Bates (Cynthia.Bates@sunyempire.edu) for permission to enroll in this course. Students will also be expected to register at and pay a separate fee to DEL (Dance Education Laboratory).

Embodied Dance History is a six-module 6-week asynchronous course designed for dance educators who want to re-imagine American modern dance history through the lens of embodied and inquiry-based learning. Course content is derived from the DEL at Jacob’s Pillow DELving into Dance History series, created by Ann Biddle and Felice Santorelli, and investigates dance artists through multiple contextual lenses to gain a holistic and more inclusive understanding of dance history. Participants will engage in collaborative research, have access to multi-modal course resources and primary sources, and interact with the rich content on the Jacob’s Pillow interactive site. Students interested in our partnership program with the 92nd Street Y Dance Education Laboratory must contact Cindy Bates (cynthia.bates@sunyempire.edu) for permission to enroll in this course. Students will also be expected to register at and pay a separate fee to DEL (Dance Education Laboratory).

In this course, participants delve into the key components of lesson plan and curriculum design using the DEL (Dance Education Laboratory) framework and informed by Understanding by Design. Participants learn how to develop scaffolded, developmentally appropriate, and standards-based dance learning activities that draw connections to dance artistry, theme-based learning, and arts integration. Participants learn how to design dynamic lessons that align student learning objectives with content and assessments. By the end of the course, participants will write an original six lesson dance unit to share with their peers. This course also includes one-on-one coaching from course facilitators. This class is part of our partnership with the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) of the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center in NYC. Students interested in our partnership program with the 92nd Street Y Dance Education Laboratory must contact Cindy Bates (cynthia.bates@sunyempire.edu) for permission to enroll in this study. Students will also be expected to register at and pay a separate fee to DEL (Dance Education Laboratory).

In this course, participants will delve into the DEL Tracing Footsteps Journey into Jazz Dance - Let’s Swing! curriculum, created in response to the need to provide free high-quality remote learning dance education instruction and materials to all NYC public school students K-12. Journey into Jazz Dance - Let’s Swing! focuses on the Africanist roots of early Jazz dance and the emergence of the Lindy Hop in New York City during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920’s - 1940’s. In this course, participants will receive an overview of the Tracing Footsteps curricular model, explore components of the grade-specific dance units, engage in culturally responsive pedagogy practices, identify innovative remote learning instructional practices, and apply the DEL model to collaborative dance-making and lesson plan design. Through embodied practice, collective inquiry, and exposure to a wide range of resources (guest dance artists and facilitators, video tutorials, and visually stimulating teaching materials), participants will learn how to bring dance history to life in their dance classrooms. Students interested in our partnership program with the 92nd Street Y Dance Education Laboratory must contact Dr. Cindy Bates (cynthia.bates@sunyempire.edu) for permission to enroll in this study. Students will also be expected to register at and pay an additional fee to DEL (Dance Education Laboratory).

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Dance (DANC). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.