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NDEO鈥檚 Guest Blog Series features posts written by our members about their experiences in the fields of dance and dance education. Guest posts reflect the experiences, opinions, and viewpoints of the author and are printed here with their permission. NDEO does not endorse any business, product, or service mentioned in guest blog posts. If you are interested in learning more about the guest blogger program or submitting an article for consideration, please .

This summer, we find ourselves reflecting on the tenacity and dedication of our members and their students. This year posed many unique challenges for the dance education community, even as the world slowly began to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. In celebration of another year of persistence and innovation, we asked our members to share some of their accomplishments from the past year. Here is just a sample of the responses we received. Check out our previous post in this series for more updates on the amazing work that NDEO members have been doing in their schools and communities:

鈥淏ring on the Superheroes! With the idea of embodying the superhero in all of us, students in grades K-2 explored the powerful movements different superheroes do. Then, working in groups, students created superhero dance phrases with a minimum of four different movements. From kicks and spins, to runs and jumps, the superhero dance phrases empowered students to create, collaborate, and connect. When the weather permitted, students did the superhero dances outside. The Avengers Theme Song was used as music for the dances. If your PTA will donate items to your dance program, consider asking for metal garbage can lids. The superheroes became even more powerful and excited with a prop.鈥� - Karen Kuebler, Author and Dance Educator at Baltimore County Public Schools

鈥淚 created and distributed West African dance course standards to my university that aligned with National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD), and also married to the values of its practitioners. A brief quantitative and qualitative research (in partnership with two other movement scholars Zakiya Cornish and Ntifafa Akoko Tete-Rosentha) unearthed practices that were neither inclusive nor equitable surrounding hiring practices, curriculum accessibility, and the tenure process. Our research found the infrastructure at several universities didn't allow students sequential progression through courses that offered increased expectations in the areas of techniques, artistry, execution, and performance that mirrored the European canon of Classical Ballet and Modern Dance. This also meant a number of these practitioners weren't eligible for tenure-line positions due to program structure. These findings and requests for more responses were recently presented at the Biennial Collegium of African Diaspora Dance hosted by Duke University and created by international dance historians Dr. Tommy DeFrantz & Dr. Takeya Amin.鈥� - Mya Ajanku, Assistant Professor, Ball State University

鈥淚 was able to take my students to Dance Team Union Nationals in Florida this year. It was a hard but rewarding path to get there. I learned from my mistakes and grew so much from the experience.鈥� - Michelle Dunn, Dance Educator, Centennial High School

鈥淢y dance background and my interest in writing picture books led me to explore the relationship between movement and early literacy. I write books and verses for young children that have a theme of dance/movement. I also present workshops for teachers about movement, and interactive story times for children. Activities such as "Now Let's Dance the Story," and " Let's Dance the Alphabet!" carry so many benefits for young children, in addition to the lively and enriching movement explorations. Some of these benefits include: vocabulary acquisition, comprehension, letter recognition, sequencing, learning about rhyme and rhythm, and kinesthetic learning of subjects/concepts. In addition, read and dance activities address important SEL skills such as group cooperation, creativity, problem solving, self-expression, body and spatial awareness, and empathizing with characters and situations in the story.鈥� - Connie Bergstein Dow, Dance Educator and Author

鈥淚 have recently begun offering Ecstatic Dance to adults and teenagers, and have loved the sense of joy that this has brought. I have loved how attendees have come to me afterwards saying how skeptical they were beforehand, and how they "don't dance", but how after participating in the workshop they look forward to seeking out more Ecstatic Dance. I love seeing people reconnect with their body, learn how to listen to it, and learn how to enjoy it.鈥� - Juliette O鈥橞rien, Teacher at the French International School in Hong Kong

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