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You’re invited to the 2026 Dance Teacher Awards ceremony on Wednesday, October 14, at 11 am at The Loft at City Winery, Pier 57 in New York City. Get your tickets here—we’d love to have you join us to celebrate these remarkable teachers and all they have given to the dance community! Early in her dance training, then-third-grader […]
Jane Vorburger seemed well-qualified to teach dance back in 2008, after dancing with American Ballet Theatre for five years, getting a master’s degree in dance from New York University, and teaching at ABT and top studios like Steps on Broadway. But there was something else she felt she needed: a dance teacher certification. “When I […]
Every dance artist begins their journey as a product of the community in which they began. While attending an all-Black school in the South, Cornelius Carter was asked by his high school dance teacher to choreograph for the school’s dance company. She noticed he had a natural talent for movement and saw the possibility of […]
As a young dancer, New York native Chanel Holland trained with multiple prestigious companies, including The Ailey School, Koresh Dance Company, and University of the Arts, but she struggled when attending classical ballet auditions in her early years as a professional. “I wouldn’t get past barre because they couldn’t see past my color, or my […]
Most anyone in dance education has experienced those uncomfortable moments when a student responds negatively to feedback, refuses to apply corrections, or outright talks back. While most teachers generously share their knowledge in hopes of bettering a student’s practice, it doesn’t mean dancers will always be agreeable or receptive. As the cultural landscape of dance […]
The story took flight with a chance encounter at the 60th Street post office in Manhattan. It was the mid-’90s and Denise Jefferson, then head of The Ailey School, and Edward Bristow, then dean of Fordham College at Lincoln Center, would often bump into each other in the neighborhood. At that point, both schools were […]
The 2023 Dance Teacher Awards will take place on Thursday, August 10 at the Sheen Center for Thought & Culture in New York City, and you’re invited! Click here to buy tickets. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Ana Marie Forsythe has been teaching for most of her life. Now 79, she first taught dance […]
Joan Peters, chairperson for Dunham Technique at The Ailey School for 44 years, died of congestive heart failure at the Mount Sinai Morningside hospital in New York City on Wednesday, November 9, 2022. Peters, a dancer, teacher and choreographer, was one of three people recognized by Katherine Dunham and The Dunham Institute as a Dunham […]
Maguette Camara prides himself on being “a really, really good beginner dance teacher.” It’s true: His high-energy, rhythm-filled West African dance classes burst with joy and community, and his patient, supportive demeanor reminds first-timers that dancing—not mastering every single step—is what’s most important. Originally from Senegal, Camara was a longtime member of the lauded Ballet […]
International master teacher Ana Marie Forsythe has devoted nearly 50 years of her life documenting the Lester Horton technique in an effort to preserve it. “Dance has given me gifts that I never realized were possible when I took my first plié,” she says. “I enjoy sharing my breadth of knowledge of the Lester Horton […]