ABOUT DEL
Our History
Jody Gottfried Arnhold founded the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) in 1995 at the 92nd Street Y, with Joan Finkelstein as Founding Director and Ann Biddle as Founding Faculty. These three visionaries saw a need for a practical and accessible professional learning program in dance education. Since its inception, DEL has provided a welcoming and inclusive community that nurtures and supports professional learning across the lifespan. DEL’s comprehensive curriculum equips dance educators with the tools they need to succeed in the dance classroom.
DEL Mission Statement
DEL inspires dance educators to engage in creative, transformational, and ongoing professional learning centered in the artistry of teaching and focused on humanistic principles of equity and justice. DEL provides an inclusive, nurturing, and dynamic laboratory where dancers and educators from diverse communities gather to experience embodied exploration and discovery, collaborative dance-making, culturally responsive practices, and collective self-reflection.
DEL…art at the heart of teaching™
DEL Provides
The Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) offers a variety of professional learning programs for dance educators and the dance community at large nationally and globally. DEL’s offerings include in-person and online courses, intensives, and events scheduled throughout the year. DEL also provides customized workshops, consultancies, and curriculum development for a range of cultural institutions, community organizations, schools, and professional dance companies.
The DEL Institute – Teacher Certificate Program, launched in 2022, offers dance educators access to a year-long online teacher certificate program that includes one-on-one coaching, mentoring, and a final practicum.
DEL collaborates with 92NY’s Nursery School, Parenting Center, and Harkness School of Dance to offer dance classes informed by the DEL Model.
To learn more about DEL’s Programs, contact DEL Director, Erin Lally, at [email protected].
DEL Model
Rooted in innovative and current educational philosophies, the DEL model is an inclusive and accessible framework designed to be applied in a wide variety of dance education contexts for all learners and practitioners in dance education.
