The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY) held a highly anticipated free screening of the new documentary PS DANCE! THE NEXT GENERATION on Friday, September 30, 2022 at Kaufmann Concert Hall. The event was an exploration of the future of dance education in America and beyond, and included a panel discussion with filmmakers Jody Gottfried Arnhold and Nel Shelby, featured faculty member Ann Biddle, and other esteemed guests. Bringing together the entire dance community - from choreographers and dancers to educators and aficionados - the evening was attended by over 350 people, including NYC Department of Education Chancellor David C. Banks and and Paul Thompson, Executive Director of the NYC DOE Office of Arts and Special Projects.

 

The event commenced with a reception at 92NY's Weill Art Gallery followed by opening remarks from Jody Gottfried Arnhold and Chancellor Banks and a dance performance by members from the Brooklyn High School of the Arts senior class. The film is available online to for all to view at https://www.allarts.org/programs/all-arts-documentary-selects/ps-dance-next-generation-dance-education-in-public-schools-faardf/.

 

"It has been an honor to create PS DANCE! THE NEXT GENERATION," said Jody Gottfried Arnhold, Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) founder and 92NY Board Chair. "Our newest documentary showcases the DEL model and the power of dance education in public schools. The film follows middle and high school students who have been immersed in DEL and are empowered to plan, design, and teach dance to classrooms of elementary students. Everyone is choreographing and performing dances. As the process unfolds, transformational changes occur. Students learn meaningful life skills, educators find inspiration, school administrators benefit from a renewed sense of energy in the halls, and families watch their children grow and thrive in phenomenal and unexpected ways. We see how the DEL model can be adapted for every educational and artistic environment. When dance is integrated into curriculum, inspiring stories like these are possible in every school. We were thrilled to have shared this film with the NYC dance community and look forward to more advancements in dance education."

 

About PSDANCE! THE NEXT GENERATION: The makers of New York Emmy Award-nominated documentary PS DANCE! (2015) are back to prove that with ingenuity and commitment, every school can be a dance school. PS DANCE! THE NEXT GENERATION shows what happens when students become the teachers. When Ann Biddle, founding faculty of the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL), moved to Northampton, MA, she was determined to bring dance education to the schools in her new town. She turned to her students to make it happen. High school and middle school dance students were immersed in the DEL teaching methods to teach elementary school students dance. Students emerged inspired and empowered to become the next generation of dance educators.

 

Created by Jody Gottfried Arnhold and Nel Shelby, PS DANCE! THE NEXT GENERATION follows the journey of Ann and her students as they build confidence, learn responsibility, and find their passion through the DEL model.

 

DEL started in New York at 92NY, and since the onset of the pandemic, teachers across the nation and the world have received support from virtual learning with DEL. Now, there is tremendous opportunity for expansion of this powerful method. Currently, there are close to 400 dance teachers serving New York City's 1,800 public schools, 192 of whom hold a New York State dance teacher license. With a significant new education budget allocation to support arts in schools, this is a definitive moment in New York City arts education history. Dance is now listed as a high-need subject area, and this film shows us why.

 

What people are saying about PS DANCE! THE NEXT GENERATION:

 

"PS DANCE! is awe-inspiring! To see these children receive encouragement and confidence through meaningful storytelling through dance should be an integral part of all learning. As evidenced in this film, dance opens minds and creates leaders, and this is why it's so vital to our education system." - Misty Copeland, American Ballet Theatre

 

"There are everyday unseen miracles that occur in our world. DEL unveils the power of the miracle of dance passed from leader to teacher to student to create dance leaders. This film is inspiring! It provides a joyous path to what is possible through dance education. What is wondrous is that DEL exists. What the world needs is this miracle of dance education. We really need this!" - Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Urban Bush Women

 

"PS DANCE! The Next Generation helps us to understand the importance of Dance. Dance allows for us to express our emotions and increase our awareness of ourselves and others through creative movement, DEL is the light that we need for our children of the next generation!" - Linda Celeste Sims, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

 

"I absolutely loved PS DANCE! and learned so much from it myself. There are tons of things the DEL program has that I can adapt to my own creative process in storytelling. PS DANCE! showed me that not all kids are the same or learn the same. So when teaching in a way where they can learn what they need to learn but also express themselves in a unique way at the same time is very important for everyone's unique process of learning." - Lil Buck 

 

Film Credits

Produced & Directed by Nel Shelby

Executive Producer Jody Gottfried Arnhold

Edited by Ashli Bickford

Supervising Editor Nel Shelby

Music composed by Punchandice (Alba S. Torremocha & Lillie R. McDonough)

Cinematographers Ashli Bickford, Nate Reininga & Nel Shelby

Drone Operator Nate Reininga

On-location sound Jim Petty

Audio Mixer Donovan Dorrance

Color Grading Cody Buesing

Graphic Design Nate Reininga

Copywriting Amy Jacobus

Photos by Shana Sureck

 

Jody Gottfried Arnhold (Executive Producer)

Jody Gottfried Arnhold, MA, CMA, Founder of Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) at 92Y, is a luminary in dance education and an advocate for dance. She created DEL in response to the need for a practical and focused dance pedagogy program. Through DEL, Jody aims to inspire and prepare teachers to work with children and teens. She continues these efforts as Executive Producer of the NY Emmy nominated documentary, PS DANCE! Dance Education in Public Schools, to raise awareness and advocate for her mission, Dance for Every Child. Teaching dance in NYC public schools for more than 25 years, has provided Jody with the experiences that continue to guide her dance education efforts including supporting the dance program at the New York City Department of Education, creating the Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program at Hunter College, and serving as the visionary benefactor behind the Doctorate in Dance Education and the Arnhold Institute for Dance Education Research, Policy & Leadership at Teachers College Columbia University. Jody supports and champions many NYC dance companies including Ballet Hispanico where she is Honorary Chair. She also supports and mentors countless dance teachers many of whom now lead the field. Jody serves on the Advisory Committee for Arts Education at the New York City Department of Education and was Co-Chair of the Committee that created the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Dance K-12. She is on the Board at 92Y, Hunter College, Harkness Foundation for Dance, and on the Advisory Committee of Dance/NYC. She has received National Dance Education Organization's Visionary Award, Education Update's Distinguished Leader in Education Award, and Teachers College Distinguished Alumni Award. Jody has received the Floria V. Lasky Award, Dance Films Association's Dance in Focus Award, and the New York State Dance Education Association Outstanding Leadership Award. She has been honored by Lincoln Center Education, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Jose Limon Dance Foundation, Dancewave, American Dance Guild, and NYC Arts in Education Roundtable for her contributions to dance and dance education. Jody holds a BA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, an MA in Dance Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and is a Certified Movement Analyst (CMA). DEL has been named an Outstanding Program by the National Dance Education Organization.

 

Nel Shelby (Producer & Director)

Nel Shelby is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of dance through excellent documentation of live performances, high-quality production of livestreams and virtual programming, the creation of smart and engaging marketing videos, and the making of original documentaries and films covering a variety of topics in the field. Her New York City-based video production company, Nel Shelby Productions, has grown to encompass a diverse list of dance clients. The entire team has training in movement, so they understand dance from both sides of the lens. Nel produced and directed New York Emmy-nominated PS DANCE!, an hour-long documentary about dance education in NYC's public schools, created with Executive Producer Jody Gottfried Arnhold and Consultant Joan Finkelstein and narrated by veteran television journalist Paula Zahn. PS DANCE! had its premiere broadcast on THIRTEEN/WNET in May 2015 and has since aired on public television networks across the country. PS DANCE! has also screened at a variety of educational and cultural panels for Dance/NYC, Teachers College at Columbia University, University of Maryland, National Dance Organization, Rutgers University, New York Historical Society, Dance on Camera at Lincoln Center and more. A second film PS DANCE! THE NEXT GENERATION had its debut broadcast on ALL ARTS and WNET/THIRTEEN in summer 2022. Nel's half-hour dance documentary Where Women Don't Dance featuring Nejla Y. Yatkin has had screenings at Links Hall in Chicago, Reston Center Stage in Virginia, Dance Place in Washington, D.C., Yonkers Film Festival and Jacob's Pillow Dance. Nel has also created four short films for Wendy Whelan's Restless Creature, and she collaborated with Adam Barruch Dance on a short film titled Folie à Deux, which was selected and screened at New York City's Dance on Camera Festival and San Francisco Dance Film Festival. Nel is Director of Media for the internationally celebrated Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in the Berkshires. Each season at the Pillow, Nel's responsibilities include documenting aspects of festival culture in addition to its 20 mainstage dance performances, filming and overseeing documentation of more than 100 free performances and events, managing two dance videography interns and an apprentice, and educating students about the technical and philosophical aspects of filming dance. Nel also serves as Director of Media at Vail Dance Festival where she creates short dance documentary films and marketing videos about the festival in addition to documenting performances. Her longer-form, half-hour documentary on Vail's festival, The Altitude of Dance, debuted on Rocky Mountain PBS in May 2013. Nel has a long personal history with movement. She has a BFA in dance and is a certified Pilates instructor. In addition to her dance degree, Nel holds a B.S. in broadcast video. She lives in New York City with her husband, dance photographer Christopher Duggan, and their two children. To learn more about Nel and her work, visit nelshelby.com and follow @nelshelbyfilms on Instagram.

 

Harkness Dance Center – 92Y School of Dance and DEL (Dance Education Laboratory) 

We offer opportunities each year for all the artists in our performance series to connect directly with our broader Dance Center community either by leading classes and workshops for the students in our School of Dance or work closely with dance educators through DEL's professional training programs to extend their impact and reach into the New York City public school system.

 

Brooklyn High School of the Arts

Brooklyn High School of the Arts is a dual-mission high school dedicated to providing aspiring artists and scholars with an academically rigorous pre-college course of study and a comprehensive, four-year pre-conservatory arts program. At Brooklyn Arts, life-long learners use their creativity to enrich their education, learning both the artistic and professional skills required in their field of study. By using the abundant resources of New York City, students are challenged to achieve their greatest artistic and academic potential. Brooklyn Arts fosters meaningful partnerships with parents, families, and the community to holistically develop global citizens who are prepared to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The vision of Brooklyn High school of the Arts is to provide an exemplary arts and academic education to culturally and socio-economically diverse students who have a passion for the arts. Their graduates are lifelong artist scholars who will utilize the skills they have developed in the arts to go on to college, and to successful careers in a wide range of professions. The Brooklyn High School of the Arts Dance Program strives to offer dance students the opportunity to develop their skills both in school and in professional venues. Through study in the Dance Program, students will develop their talents in classical ballet, contemporary and modern dance. Students will graduate prepared for the rigors of a Liberal Arts or Conservatory college program. Students work with professional choreographers each year to hone their skills and learn their craft.