Teachers College alumna Jody Gottfried Arnhold is described as “the godmother of dance education” in a story in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

Arnhold (M.A. ’73), whose $4.3 million gift to create a new doctoral program in dance education at Teachers College will be formally announced tomorrow, is the founder of the Dance Education Laboratory at the 92nd Street Y and past chair and current honorary chair of Ballet Hispanico. She served as Co-Chairwoman of the committee that drafted the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) Blueprint for Teaching & Learning in Dance, published in 2005.

The program funded by Arnhold’s gift will prepare those who educate dance teachers, as well as policy makers and leaders in the field. 

“I’m trying to build the field,” Arnhold told the Journal. “I want these people to pepper the country, to be sitting at the table any time anyone talks about dance education.” Arnhold, who was accorded godmother status in the field by Ana Nery Fragoso, NYCDOE’s Director of Dance, also called for “more people to do serious research on dance education.”

Read the Wall Street Journal story as a PDF.

Related Links

Jody and John Arnhold Give $4.3 Million to Teachers College to Launch Unique Dance Education Doctoral Program

A Stepwise Process: A TC committee is shaping the new dance education doctoral program

The Dance Maker: Alumna Jody Gottfried Arnhold champions dance education as a Deweyan medium for learning