Enlightened. That’s just one way to describe what it felt like to be among some of the best and brightest in the dance education community at the 2023 Dance Teacher Awards. On Thursday, August 10, at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture in New York City, five extraordinary dance educators—Ana Marie Forsythe (Awardee of […]
Dear DT+ Community, We all have a special place in our hearts for the dance teacher who opened our eyes to the joy of dance and inspired us to become educators ourselves. Here at Dance Teacher, we’ve made it our mission to give these role models the recognition they deserve by celebrating them at our […]
Irene Dowd brings the teaching of anatomy to dancers into motion. As a teacher of functional and kinesthetic anatomy and neuromuscular reeducation, perhaps most notably as a member of The Juilliard School’s dance faculty for 28 years, and the author of the seminal Taking Root to Fly: Articles on Functional Anatomy, she has influenced generations of dance professionals.
The Dance Teacher Awards provide an integral opportunity to recognize dance educators making a mark in their communities. Over the past 20 years, the long list of awardees has grown to include luminaries ranging from Judith Jamison to Stephanie and Bo Spassoff to Earl Mosley to Katherine Dunham. This year, we’re excited to add five […]
Spinal alignment is like turnout, says Michael Kelly Bruce, associate professor of dance at The Ohio State University. “It’s a mechanism, not an aesthetic.” But as with turnout, dancers’ visual goals often lead them to force their bodies into unnatural positions. “A healthier spine has to do with acknowledging the structural integrity of what’s there, […]
Dowd on Dance Teacher’s March 2008 cover The American Dance Festival recently announced Irene Dowd (DT March 2008) as the 2014 recipient of the Balasaraswati/Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching. A Juilliard faculty member and anatomy expert, Dowd teaches movement-based anatomy/kinesiology classes to help dancers use their bodies safely and efficiently. She […]
Your browser does not support the video tag. Irene Dowd has been on faculty at The Juilliard School since 1995. Her movement-based anatomy/kinesiology classes allow dancers to explore concepts physically as well as intellectually. Here, Dowd and student Leiland Charles demonstrate how a to use outward rotation to find increased flexibility and greater ease of […]