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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2025
All onsite pre-conference intensives are included with your pre-conference day registration. Offsite intensives include Schedule coming soon. Intensives are 2-3 hours in length; you can expect to take up to 3 in the day. Please see below for pricing.
8:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Presented by Michigan Dance Council
Join us for an exciting DPSCD Dance Open House, where you'll get a behind-the- scenes tour of some of our dance spaces and introduction to our dance programs! Our talented dance directors will guide you through their studios/classrooms showcasing some of our beautifully established and developing rehearsal and performance spaces. You'll also have the opportunity to learn about some of our school's class offerings, from Dance Workshop for advanced dancers to creative movement classes for students in grades k-2. Throughout this session, our dance directors will share insights into their teaching philosophy and answer any questions about their programs. This is the perfect opportunity to meet our dance community, network and feel inspired.
Location: Transportation provided from Detroit Marriott
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Presented by Hannah Andersen and Gregory Patterson
In this session, two seasoned Pilates educators with distinct and diverse backgrounds will provide an in depth look at Pilates as a lens through which movement capacities and potentials are enhanced across ages, abilities, and identities. Utilizing the Pilates apparatus such as Reformers, Towers, Chairs, Cadillac, Barrels, and various props, this session will examine the unique features of each, how they inform movement patterning in basic and advanced exercises, and strategies for application to movement and dance teaching. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about Pilates, practice Pilates on the mat and apparatus, and discuss various approaches and evolutions to the method. Time will also be spent discussing the landscape of Pilates teacher trainings and histories, role of Pilates in dance programs, and the ways in which the two presenters have evolved their University curricula, resources, and made certification programs available to students. This session will offer learning opportunities for all: seasoned practitioners, curious minds, and those with no experience on apparatus or understanding of the foundations of Pilates.
Location: Wayne State University Pilates Lab, Old Main 4841 Cass Ave first floor. QLine transit is free from hotel - approx 20 mins needed door to door.
9:15 AM - 4:00 PM
Presented by Elizabeth Kattner, Yoav Kaddar, Stephanie Simpson, and James Robey
This full-day pre-conference event challenges that notion by exploring how dancers and arts educators can step into leadership roles, filling gaps, shaping change, and redefining what leadership looks like in education, organizations, and beyond. Through an immersive blend of theory, practice, and embodiment, participants will engage in interactive sessions that integrate leadership models, coaching tools, discussion, reflection, and movement, recognizing that the skills we cultivate in the studio translate powerfully into leadership in any setting. This session fosters an inclusive, forward-thinking approach to leadership that empowers individuals to lead with confidence, adaptability, and an understanding of the powerful connection between body, mind, and leadership impact. Lunch provided courtesy of Oakland University.
All intensive sessions included in onsite fee
8:30 - 11:30 AM
Presented by Benito 'Mav' Vasquez
Motor City Street Dance Academy (MCSDA) brings a dynamic and culturally rich specialized Breaking Education Intensive for dance educators. This hands-on experience will blend movement, pedagogy, and cultural history, equipping educators with practical strategies to integrate breaking into their programs while preserving its authenticity. The intensive begins with a deep dive into breaking fundamentals to engage participants in movement-based learning that enhances body awareness, musicality, and creativity, with adaptive techniques suited for various skill levels and age groups. Alongside physical training, the program will provide a historical and cultural context, exploring breaking’s origins in the Bronx, its evolution, its role in hip-hop culture, and cultural appreciation versus appropriation. The session will conclude with an interactive lab where participants develop lesson plans tailored to their teaching environments. Through group discussions and hands-on curriculum development, educators will gain practical tools to implement breaking in K-12 schools, studios, and community programs. They will also receive resources for continued learning and community engagement, ensuring long-term impact. By the end of the intensive, participants will leave with a strong foundation in breaking techniques, cultural knowledge, and effective teaching strategies. MCSDA’s involvement will highlight breaking not just as a dance form but as an educational tool that fosters creativity, discipline, and cultural understanding.
Presented by Penny Godbolo and Frederick Curry
This pre-conference intensive highlights the rich legacy of Katherine Dunham Technique in Detroit, providing historical context, insights, and an immersion in the fundamentals of the Detroit style of Dunham Technique. Dunham Technique is a fusion of Afro-Caribbean movement, ballet, and modern dance, rooted in cultural expression and Katherine Dunham’s (1909-2006) pioneering anthropological research. The session will be led by Penny Godboldo, an internationally renowned certified teacher of Dunham Technique, who worked closely with Dunham over a 20-year period. Godboldo has been a driving force in providing access to Dunham Technique in the greater Detroit area for many generations of dancers. She received her initial training in the Dunham Technique in Detroit from Clifford Fears, a former member of the Dunham company. Godboldo is a former Co-Director of the Institute for Dunham Technique Certification and former Chair of Dance and Dance Education Program Director at Marygrove College in Detroit.
9:00 - 11:00 AM
Presented by Allegra Romita and Nancy Wanich-Romita
Whether one dances for a semester or dances for many years, there is a sustainable effect on body/mind functioning and motor learning patterns. This session will present research that investigates and supports the benefits of dance on development and longevity. Knowing how dance and purposeful mental training impacts motor and cognitive learning can allow dance educators to have a deeper impact on their students over time. Participants will explore physical practices, mental training, and Functional Awareness® strategies that can deepen the long-term impact of dance training alone. These strategies are intended to be applied easily into the flow of your current class plan to develop skills that both students and dance educators can implement for a lifetime. The power of this work is that it has the possibility to translate into life outside of the dance classroom.
Presented by Mary Gorder and Rachel Stewart
Body image has an enormous impact on mental health, wellness, and how students engage with dance. As dance teachers, our messaging about bodies can be a hugely important factor in our students' self image, identity and confidence. This intensive will include practical tools and strategies to foster healthy body image in students, as well as ways to safely support and advocate for those who may need more help. Participants will investigate their own dance training, what it taught them about their body and bodies in general, and how these beliefs and learnings may or may not be showing up in their classrooms. We will consider unique teaching environments, and participants will leave with an action plan for how to implement these concepts in their own work. Using the framework of Love Your Body Week, a program we have been developing for 20 years that has been adopted by NDEO's National Honor Society for Dance Arts, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the implications of body image in dance training, as well as how to better care for their students and themselves.
9:00 - 11:30 AM
Presented by Charlotte Griffin
This experiential session in modern/contemporary technique aims to enliven your dance practice and pedagogy by highlighting the diverse traditions of embodiment that empower safe and joyful inversions. Through a slide presentation, group discussion, and movement practice, we consider the artistic and athletic forms, individuals, and communities that have influenced the inversion aesthetics and rigor of American Modern concert dance including martial arts, yoga, and hip hop. While reflecting on our personal contexts, understandings, and limitations within these histories and practices, we connect to a rich foundation of innovative approaches to cultivating energy and embodiment. The movement material includes preparation, activation, modification, and restoration with optional tactile cues and gentle spotting. By slowing down and bringing our focus to the mindful and playful qualities of being upside down, we connect to the wisdom of generations of dancers and movers. The session concludes with constructive rest and a closing discussion.
12:00 - 2:00 PM
Presented by Anne Green Gilbert
Presented by Shana Habel
Dr. Ann Hutchinson Guest, a renowned figure in the world of dance, developed Language of Dance®, a pedagogical approach that builds movement knowledge and develops movement literacy. The foundation of this approach is the Movement Alphabet, the principal verbs of our body’s movement. We will engage with the Movement Alphabet as an entry point into Language of Dance, experiencing these primary actions as a catalyst for the creative process and as an effective and efficient way to build and deepen movement skills. Participants will dance the Movement Alphabet to discover how sensing focuses kinesthetic awareness to reveal the range of ideas inherent in each concept. Exploring these concepts we connect to figurative and descriptive language to heighten the moving experience. Tapping into their exploratory movement reservoir, participants will write and dance their own Motif Notation scores using the Movement Alphabet symbols. Participants will improvise their Motif Notation scores and discover how that differs from dancing specific choices for each concept. In this process, we will discuss ways that writing and dancing scores nurtures inclusivity, self-efficacy, and culturally relevant learning. Guest felt that the Movement Alphabet and Language of Dance were her most important contributions to the field of dance. With this session, and others to come, we honor her legacy and keep this innovative and most relevant approach alive and growing in our dance spaces.
12:00 - 2:30 PM
Presented by Thelma Goldberg
This intensive will introduce educators to a fully-integrated approach to teaching tap dance to students ranging from 6 years to 86 years. The instructor will share the what, why, and how to build clarity and confidence. With 43 years of experience as a tap dance educator, Thelma will share skill development exercises (rudiments, shuffles, slaps and flaps, paddle and rolls, etc.), age and ability-appropriate choreography, and the classic repertoire (shim sham, time steps, etc.) all students should know. In addition, the session will discuss methods to share tap history within a typical 30- 60-minute lesson. Participants will go home with tap resources ranging from rhythm cards to history worksheets.
Presented by Neo Lynch
Presented by Stephen Ursprung, Donna Davenport, Kelly Lester, Jessie Levey, Ashlee Rapoza
As dance education evolves in response to societal, technological, and institutional shifts, educators must find ways to sustain their work while preserving core values. This intensive will explore two key areas: Connecting Across Sectors and Embodied Intelligence vs. Artificial Intelligence. Through discussions, pedagogical inquiry, and collaboration, participants will investigate strategies to navigate change and strengthen dance education. This intensive is divided into two segments: 1) Connecting Across Sectors: foster collaborations between educators in all sectors of dance education; examine successful interdisciplinary partnerships and institutional collaborations; and develop strategies to sustain dance education through networking and meaningful connections; and 2) Embodied Intelligence vs. Artificial Intelligence: analyze AI’s impact on dance pedagogy and creative practice; contrast AI with the unique qualities of embodied intelligence; and develop advocacy strategies for preserving embodied and experiential learning in an era of increasing automation. This session is designed for dance educators from all sectors and professional backgrounds. Participants will: share and consider strategies for cross-sector collaboration and sustainability; imagine greater resilience in professional and institutional transitions; engage in discussions on AI’s role in dance education and its ethical implications; and expand their network of peers and develop action plans for sustaining their work. This intensive empowers dance educators with knowledge, strategies, and community support to navigate change while upholding the core values of dance education through dialogue and collaboration.
3:00 - 4:30 PM
Presented by MarÃa Daniel
3:00 - 6:00 PM
Presented by Jody Arnhold, Ann Biddle, Erin Lally
Join us as we celebrate 30 years of the nationally acclaimed 92NY Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) professional learning program with a dynamic, movement-based workshop led by 92NY DEL Founder Jody Arnhold, 92NY DEL Professional Learning and Curriculum Senior Consultant Ann Biddle, and 92NY DEL Director Erin Lally. Experience the heart of 92NY DEL’s unique pedagogy—exploration and guided discovery, collaborative dance-making, and dance literacy using the DEL Dance Framework. Inspired by the theme“A Storm is Brewing,” facilitators will lead participants through a re-imagined reconstruction of the Storm Dance, Arnhold, and Biddle's first DEL workshop taught in 1995. Join us as we co-create a new iteration of the Storm Dance, amplifying embodied activism and the transformative power of collective dance-making to create social change. All participants will receive a unique DEL 30 Gift Bag, including a Dance for Every Child t-shirt, “Jody’s 30 Lesson Plans,” color-printed DEL Basics charts, and more… Attendance is limited to 50 participants. Whether you’re new to DEL or a longtime member of our community, this inclusive, hands-on intensive will inspire, energize, and reconnect you to the joy of dance education. Come move with us—celebrate, create, and shape the future together!
Presented by Carlos Jones, Lindsay Guarino, and Brandi Coleman
Presented by Sandi Stratton-Gonzalez and Diane Duggan
This Intensive, led by two dance educators with extensive experience teaching in special education settings, will present concepts, strategies and activities for working with students with disabilities. The intensive is grounded in an assets-based approach to education that respects diversity in the classroom and focuses on students' experience and skills rather than on deficits. Much of the material is applicable to students with all types of disabilities. This includes a consideration of the role of the teacher, structuring the dance classroom, responding to sensory needs, providing visual supports, and preventing and responding to challenging behavior. Other parts of the intensive include activities that are targeted to address the strengths and needs of students with specific disabilities, including autism, emotional disabilities, intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, and multiple disabilities. The presenters will utilize PowerPoint presentation, movement experiences, discussion, and small group work. Participants will embody the concepts, strategies, and activities presented and consider how to differentiate them as needed. Time will be provided for reflection and discussion on ways of adapting the learning for participants’ own students
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