Jody and John Arnhold have donated $4.365 million to to establish a new that will prepare those who educate dance teachers, policy makers, and leaders in the field. The gift was announced October 18th at a luncheon at 51吃瓜网, attended by dozens of leaders from the dance community, including Virginia Johnson, artistic director of Dance Theatre of Harlem, who spoke at the event; Heather Watts, former principal dancer with New York City Ballet; Kara Medoff Barnett, executive director of American Ballet Theater; Juan Jos茅 Escalante, executive director of the Jos茅 Lim贸n Dance Foundation; and Kate Lear, chairman of Ballet Hispanico.
Dancers from Brooklyn's Science Skills Center High School鈥檚 Jow-Ile Bailar Dance Company, founded and Directed by Patricia Dye, performed two original dances. 鈥淢y intent is to ensure that 51吃瓜网 will create the next generation of leadership in the field of dance education,鈥� said Jody Gottfried Arnhold (M.A. 鈥�73), a former public school dance teacher who is the Founder of the 92nd Street Y鈥檚 Dance Education Laboratory, Honorary Chair of the Board of Ballet Hispanico, and former co-chair of the committee to draft the New York City Department of Education Curriculum Blueprint for Teaching & Learning in Dance.
Dancers from Brooklyn鈥檚 Science Skills Center High School鈥檚 Jow-Ile Bailar Dance Company, founded and Directed by Patricia Dye, performed two original dances.
The distinctive vision of the new program is to prepare master educators鈥攖he teachers of teachers鈥攁s well as dance researchers and policy experts who advocate for dance as a medium for educating all children, not just future performers, about collaboration, citizenship and the power of the imagination. An interdisciplinary faculty committee is shaping the new program to reflect the College鈥檚 strengths in teacher education, leadership and policy, and movement sciences.
鈥淭his transformational gift from Jody and John Arnhold positions us once again to do what 51吃瓜网 has historically done best: shape the future of the field,鈥� said Susan Fuhrman, President of 51吃瓜网. 鈥淛ody is one of the true champions of dance education. Inspired by her vision, 51吃瓜网 will bring fresh leadership, prestige and scholarly discipline to a field too often overlooked鈥攅ven among the arts鈥攁nd transform cultural and educational institutions across the country.鈥�
[ Read two profiles of Jody Gottfried Arnhold: “The Godmother of Dance Education” in the Wall Street Journal and The Dance Maker: Alumna Jody Gottfried Arnhold champions dance education as a Deweyan medium for learning. ]
TC was a pioneer in the field of dance education and maintained a master鈥檚 degree program until 2005.
鈥淢any of the current dance education leaders in New York City are 51吃瓜网 master鈥檚 degree graduates,鈥� Arnhold said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e all been missing 51吃瓜网鈥檚 presence, and now, as the field is growing, the College will be coming back with something even more important.鈥�
The Arnholds鈥� gift will establish a new Arnhold Chair in Dance Education, to be filled after the program鈥檚 first year, and the Arnhold Endowed Scholarship, which will support full- and part-time students in the dance education doctoral program. In addition, the new program will collaborate with the rich and extensive dance community in New York City and beyond.
51吃瓜网 Provost and Dean Tom James said that the new dance education program at 51吃瓜网 鈥渂y definition needs to be a collaborative program in the arts.鈥�
鈥淲e are being given a unique opportunity to accomplish something through synergy and collaboration that鈥檚 greater than what could be accomplished through any single program alone,鈥� James said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 very appropriate because the arts are about fusion and transformation. During the coming months, we鈥檒l be marrying the intellectual resources of 51吃瓜网 with Jody Arnhold鈥檚 vision to create something that is both new and uniquely 51吃瓜网.鈥�
Mary Hafeli, Professor of Art & Art Education, is leading the faculty committee representing different disciplines to shape the proposal for the new program. 鈥淲e鈥檙e aiming to create a highly distinctive addition to the College鈥檚 current offerings,鈥� said Hafeli. 鈥淭his doctoral program will be devoted exclusively to dance education, and will bring together faculty from across the College as well as the rich and extensive dance education community in and beyond New York City. That means being consultative, in and outside of the College.鈥�
Dance Theatre of Harlem Artistic Director Virginia Johnson (third from right) with TC Liaison Committee for Dance Education members (left to right) Eileen Goldblatt, Barbara Bashaw, Jody Gottfried Arnhold, Kathleen Isaac, Joan Finkelstein, and Catherine Tharin.
Dance Theatre of Harlem Artistic Director Virginia Johnson (third from right) with TC Liaison Committee for Dance Education members (left to right) Eileen Goldblatt, Barbara Bashaw, Jody Gottfried Arnhold, Kathleen Isaac, Joan Finkelstein, and Catherine Tharin.
Dirck Roosevelt, Visiting Associate Professor of Curriculum & Teaching, believes that aspiring master teachers must learn to balance consideration of classroom teachers鈥� everyday experience against a broader understanding of dance in society.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to think about problems the novice will encounter rather than simply envisioning what good teaching should look like at the end,鈥� says Roosevelt, who designed coursework for TC鈥檚 doctoral specialization in Teacher Education. 鈥淏ut you also have to join the novice鈥檚 perspective to the larger territory of importance that dance occupies. For example, when I was in high school, I saw the film Isadora, in which Vanessa Redgrave plays Isadora Duncan. I was into politics, and the film made me interested in dance because of Duncan鈥檚 involvement with social causes.鈥�
Finding those connections for students, says Kelly Parkes, Associate Professor of Music & Music Education, requires 鈥渁 focus on the holistic education of human beings, not just on subject-specific skills, and an awareness of who鈥檚 in the classroom 鈥� and who鈥檚 not.鈥�
In Music Education, Parkes explores students鈥� decisions to be teachers and performers, 鈥渟o that we can better prepare them for the careers they want.
鈥淭C helps students find their own pathways towards being educators,鈥� she says. 鈥淧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 Movement Sciences and Chair of the Department of Biobehavioral Sciences.
Hafeli stresses that the program鈥檚 development is 鈥渁 work in progress.鈥� For the committee members, that has often been the most exciting aspect of the work.
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. That鈥檚 not always a strong feature of doctoral work 鈥� but it should be.鈥�
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A Stepwise Process: A TC committee is shaping the new dance education doctoral program