DEL Lab Schools Feature: Barry Blumenfeld
We’re continuing to spotlight our 2023 DEL Lab School recipients, and this month, we’re sharing more about Barry Blumenfeld!
Barry Blumenfeld is on the faculty of Friends Seminary—where he built the dance program over the past 23 years—as well as NYU Steinhardt and Dance Education Laboratory at 92NY, for which he co-created the app, DanceMaker.
He has taught in private pre-schools and studios such as Broadway Dance Center, with deaf college students at Gallaudet University, and as an adjunct professor at American University.
Barry has served as President of the New York State Dance Education Association and was a recipient of their Outstanding PreK-12 Dance Educator Award in 2017. He has received the Outstanding Leadership Award from the National Dance Education Organization, and he wrote a monthly “Ask The Experts” column for Dance Teacher Magazine for 8 years.
Barry founded the tap/modern dance company, TAPFUSION, and has choreographed numerous works that have been presented in New York, Florida, Maryland and Washington, D.C.. His work with the company led to a Choreographer’s Fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts.
He holds a BA in Psychology and an MA in Dance from American University, and is a certified Level 1 Teacher of Language of Dance®, a certified yoga instructor, and a Registered Dance Educator.
Early in Barry’s dance training, he was selected to take a workshop taught by Gregory Hines. Greg’s message in that class was “be expressive,” and that has inspired Barry for almost three decades.
Those two words have rooted in his psyche and fostered the life-long belief in the power of dance as a means of understanding the self, the world and the relationship between them.
Whether it is a 2nd grader choreographing their understanding of the water cycle, a high school student shining a light on what it is to be a young Black woman in this country, or a group of dance professionals seeking to find a way to bring the benefits of dance to more people, Barry seeks to enable others to expand their own ability to share their world with others.
As Barry likes to say- dance is for sharing, not for keeping.
We asked Barry to answer the following questions:
A. What is one of the biggest learnings or takeaways that has stuck with you from a DEL Course/Workshop?
The biggest takeaway goes back to my DEL Foundations class with Jody, which must have been around twenty years ago. “We can make a dance about ANYTHING!” is the cornerstone of my work. It actually connects to a magical master class I took with with Gregory Hines, where he emphasized “be expressive” with your dance. That has since been my North Star, and DEL showed me how to weave that into everything I teach.
B. How do you apply the DEL model in your teaching environment? Tell us more about how you use what you’ve learned from DEL in your real life.
How do I apply the DEL Model? It’s in EVERYTHING I do. It’s the architecture for everything I do—the blueprint for all classes and curriculum. It’s the way I make sure my students make dance in every class. It’s literally the language I speak and how I think. I can’t not use it.
C. At the center of the DEL Model is the Teacher’s Heart, which represents the core artistic and philosophical values and beliefs of every dance educator. Randa shared:
“My Teacher’s Heart is giving the gift of joy and laughter and dance to all. “