|
 The
Higher-Ed Voice
Passport
to Dance
By
Tom Ralabate
Aspiring
dance teachers get on board with SHIP and disembark with a
degree in hand
The
journey from the start of grade school through obtaining a
master’s degree typically takes about 18 years. Dance
Masters of America, Inc. (DMA) has created a concise,
still-evolving 10-year journey of dance education for its
membership and students. Today, the established four-year DMA
Teachers Training School (TTS) is complemented and book-ended
by the three-year Student Honors Intensive Program (SHIP) and
the three-year Certified Master’s in Dance Direction (CMDD).
In
2006 DMA completed its first
cycle of CMDD and presented its fourth successful year of the
fast-growing, popular SHIP, designed for young emerging
artists. These two programs have made a big educational
difference for DMA. Prospective teachers can begin this
intensive journey at age 13 in SHIP, continue through
certification in TTS, and conclude at age 24 with CMDD.
SHIP,
for students ages 13 to 18, includes five days of classroom
discoveries, open conversations in special-topic classes, and
the artistic realization of onstage performances. It separates
students from the TTS comprehensive and certified program,
which is historically attended by established teachers. I
developed the program because I felt that young students need
to experience dance beyond a pedagogic approach, in an
experience that combines the educational and the artistic—a
full smorgasbord of dance and theater topics. SHIP’s goal is
to nurture developing dancers in a way that allows them to
become resourceful and make solid choices based on real-world
information. The program includes technique classes in ballet,
jazz, and tap; musical theater; special-topic classes on
nutrition and wellness; plus sessions on acting and voice,
social dance, hip-hop, and dance sciences, with an
introduction to dance kinesiology and somatics such as Pilates
and Gyrokinesis®.
SHIP
began with a modest 42 students in 2003 and is now pushing 100
participants. For August 2007, Mimi Costa White, DMA’s
incoming national president, plans to launch the first-ever
SHIP West, as well as the longawaited return of TTS West, at
California State University at Long Beach.
In
the CMDD program, dance is viewed as a communicative art with
multiple roles: performance, choreography, education,
recreation, production, and research. I designed this
specialized program in 2004 at University at Buffalo (UB) with
15 candidates, all certified postgraduates and
advanced students from DMA’s Teachers Training School. Since
1997, when UB became the official home of DMA’s educational
programs under the guidance of then DMA president Rhee Gold,
the university’s support and DMA’s advocates for dance
education have enabled the organization to expand, redesign
its TTS certification programs, and add SHIP and CMDD.
DMA’s
advisory board and I ascertained a need for teachers to
progress beyond the popular, four-year comprehensive
certification program currently offered by DMATTS, hence the
creation of CMDD. Its purpose is to expand the teacher’s
experience through research, group sharing, and practical
work. This approach includes developing an individual vision
and dance identity along with skills in the creative process
(teaching, choreography, and specialization); the integration
of arts and dance sciences; extended research in dance and
related areas; and the application of theory and practice in
the art of dance.
CMDD’s
curriculum is designed to be completed in three years,
culminating in a test-out that requires either an extensive
research paper with a presentation
or a choreographic project with paper and presentation. The UB
faculty guides the candidates through their
research. The main objective is to provide DMA members with an
opportunity to engage in serious scholarship and research in
dance and related fields.
The
rotating curriculum includes Envisioning Dance Education;
Master’s Jazz Theory, Aesthetics and Practice; and
Master’s Choreography (year one); Envisioning Dance
Education; Master’s Ballet Theory, Aesthetics and Practice;
and Dance History and Performance Appreciation (year two); and
Envisioning Dance Education; Master’s Mind– Body
Integration; Master’s Modern Theory, Aesthetics and Practice
or Master’s Tap Theory, Aesthetics and Practice (year
three).
To
achieve the program’s objectives, I recruited Jeanne
Fornarola, clinical assistant professor of dance at UB, to
create a three-year, continuing-education course in dance
titled “Envisioning Dance Education in the Private Dance
Studio: Extended Education for the Dance Studios in the 21st
Century.” This course offers dance studio directors and
teachers the same material given to undergraduate and graduate
dance education majors. As a former dance studio owner,
Fornarola knew how to develop content that would be most
valuable for this population of dance educators. Her first
concern was how to reach a group of dance educators that was
diverse both in their studios’ offerings and in the kind of
education they had received as dancers and dance teachers. Her
second concern was to make this lecture-based class engaging
and valuable for educators who rely on DMA’s TTS for
information and rejuvenation. “Stronger studios build
stronger dance majors,” says Fornarola. “When higher ed
and the private sector work together, everybody
wins—especially the students.”
In
a self-study, CMDD students were asked to describe how the
program relates to their dance experience. Overwhelmingly,
they commented on the strength of the teaching faculty and the
personal attention given to them. CMDD candidate Terrie Legein
says, “These classes have given me a new approach [to] how I
prepare my own students. I feel that I’ve been able to bring
fresh concepts to my teaching. CMDD helps you break out of the
safety net and experiment with more confidence.” Most
students asked that even more theory, history, and philosophy
classes be added to the curriculum.
SHIP and CMDD have helped bridge an educational gap between
theory, practice, and research for DMA. Continuing education,
in any field, is a necessity in today’s rapidly changing
world. The expansion and assimilation of knowledge from
historical, philosophical, scientific, and aesthetic points of
view builds confidence and empowers people. For dance
educators, widening their pedagogic approach allows them to
become better teachers, thereby making their programs and
schools the best they can be. For dance students, finding the
right intensive program or inspirational teacher can be a
life-altering experience. DMA’s educational voyage may just
be your passport to dance.
For
a complete guide to DMA’s educational programs visit www.dma-national.org.
Photo
captions (from top to bottom):
Teachers
observe an acrobatics demonstration at Dance Masters of
America’s 2006 Teachers Training School.
Teachers
enjoy a class at Dance Masters of America’s 2006 Teachers
Training School.
All
photos by Paul Janusz
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