In 2026, being a well-rounded dance educator means greater than delivering robust choreography or sustaining technical precision. It means creating the scholar’s thoughts alongside the physique and sustaining ardour over a long time. Extra importantly, it requires encouraging scholar progress as complete human beings. Method stays important – however it’s not the end line.
This evolving philosophy of dance schooling is without doubt one of the central themes academics will discover at this summer season’s DanceOne Summit, held in New York Metropolis from August 13-16. Summit is a gathering designed to help educators not simply as instructors, however as leaders, mentors and lifelong learners. Right here, Dance Informa speaks with three masterful instructing artists who will probably be bringing their information and experience to the collective of dance educators attending the Summit.
Lauren Ritchie, a efficiency psychology and management and psychological expertise educator, believes the definition of “well-rounded” has expanded considerably. “It may be troublesome right this moment to outline a ‘well-rounded’ dance instructor as a result of there’s extra entry to coaching than ever earlier than. However at its core, we’re creating three dimensions in dancers – the thoughts, the physique and artistry.”
Her perspective displays the type of multidimensional studying setting occasions just like the DanceOne Summit are constructed to foster, the place academics look at not solely what they educate, however how and why they educate it.
She factors out that dance schooling has historically emphasised physicality and artistry, whereas the psychological aspect (confidence, focus and resilience) was usually left to probability. “A well-rounded instructor now helps these expertise deliberately, recognizing that psychological growth instantly impacts each technical progress and inventive expression.”
Her personal journey displays this shift. Ritchie remembers standing in the back of a rehearsal, repeating “level your ft” with mounting frustration when nothing modified. By her research of psychological expertise and motor studying science, she realized that concern narrows consideration and limits retention. “That discovery led me to combine psychological efficiency and studying science into dance coaching so dancers can develop robust method whereas sustaining confidence and engagement.”
For educators attending DanceOne Summit, these insights provide sensible, transferable instruments and methods that may reshape classroom dynamics as a lot as scholar outcomes.
Francisco Gella, Creative Director of Zeitgeist Dance Theatre and 24SEVEN Dance Conference Instructing Artist, approaches well-roundedness by way of breadth of expertise. “A well-rounded instructor means entry to extra alternatives,” he says. Crossing between ballet, trendy and the dance conference world has given him “a wider image of the dance world,” shaping each his instructing methodology and inventive voice. For Gella, versatility will not be dilution, it’s growth.
This spirit of growth is on the coronary heart {of professional} growth areas just like the Summit, the place publicity to completely different instructing philosophies, genres and trade pathways encourages educators to rethink their very own frameworks.
That growth usually requires stepping exterior of consolation zones. “Completely, it’s important,” he says of continuous schooling. At age 52, he traveled to Berlin, to renew coaching after years away. Studying in a brand new nation, from new academics, was “eye-opening” and reignited his progress as an educator. Returning to the position of scholar added “extra depth, inspiration and rediscovering my love as a mover, technician and artist.”
Leo Manzari, recording artist and faucet dancer, believes that embracing a number of disciplines is crucial to sustaining an extended and evolving profession as a dance educator. “I’ve at all times been an advocate for multi-disciplinary artistry. I discover that the extra well-rounded your craft is, the extra of your humanity you’re capable of encapsulate in your creations.” For him, learning music and songwriting expanded his faucet apply in sudden methods. “By my creation of music, I realized about storytelling and the various layers one bar of music actually incorporates.” That exploration reshaped how he understands phrasing, dialogue and intention in dance. “A narrative isn’t a narrative until there’s a cause price telling it.”
All three educators emphasize that progress requires humility. Ritchie notes, “A number of the most transformative studying in my profession has occurred exterior my very own dance self-discipline.” Exploring different genres or learning motivation and communication helps academics perceive coaching extra fully. “Stepping exterior your self-discipline does require vulnerability, however that’s exactly the purpose.” A newbie’s mindset, she suggests, retains educators evolving for the dancers they serve.
Gella echoes this sentiment in less complicated phrases. “New experiences create new views.” He remembers reaching a degree the place he felt bored with the ideas that after made him profitable. Stepping exterior his consolation zone compelled him to reset how he understood method and artistry. “The lessons I took exterior my consolation zone single-handedly modified how I view my strategies.”
Manzari provides that repetition with out growth can create stagnation. “Generally the repetition of instructing your personal materials causes each bodily and musical habits, so permitting your self to witness different folks’s crafts is a solution to discover the place your creativity would possibly fall quick.” Publicity to other ways of considering challenges educators to refine, not abandon, their foundations.
Longevity in dance schooling right this moment additionally is dependent upon emotional intelligence. Ritchie believes that significant shifts in a classroom are sometimes delicate. “Probably the most highly effective shifts in a classroom are sometimes invisible, a change in tone, language, or method can essentially alter how a dancer experiences studying and, in the end, themselves.” Serving to academics construct confidence, motivation and emotional regulation in dancers instantly influences studying and retention. Sustainability will not be solely bodily; it’s psychological.
Connection additionally sustains educators. Ritchie displays that the relationships shaping her profession started with “shared love – merely folks in a room who liked dance and the dancers we serve.” Mentors and colleagues “opened doorways I couldn’t have opened alone.”
It’s this identical spirit of shared function that defines the DanceOne Summit expertise – an setting the place networking grows organically from mutual respect quite than transaction.
“Networking is particular as a result of it creates alternatives for future collaborative creations,” shares Manzari. He recommends authenticity first. “Introduce your self with an open coronary heart, as a result of that’s the quickest solution to see in case your artistry aligns.”
In an ever-changing trade, remaining related past one’s studio partitions is essential. “Dance extends far past any single studio or area,” Ritchie says. Staying engaged with the broader neighborhood strengthens perspective and management. Gella is much more direct: “Staying in a bubble means you’re much less knowledgeable and you can not see the entire image.” For Manzari, trade relevance ensures that college students have a real launch pad into skilled life. As his mentor Maurice Hines advised him, “Pay it ahead.”
Finally, in 2026, well-rounded means balancing self-discipline with empathy. It means increasing method by way of psychology, music, storytelling and lived expertise. It means sustaining curiosity lengthy after formal coaching ends.
Ritchie hopes educators depart skilled gatherings such because the DanceOne Summit feeling “seen and supported… with a renewed sense of belonging, pleasure for the season forward, and confidence of their talents as educators.” Gella hopes they depart “impressed, modified and reinvigorated.” Manzari presents maybe probably the most grounding reminder: “Instructing is such a selfless act, and that’s to be congratulated at each alternative.”
A well-rounded educator will not be outlined solely by what number of types they educate or how excessive their college students can kick. They’re outlined by their willingness to evolve, their dedication to humanity, and their potential to maintain each method and coronary heart over time. In right this moment’s dance panorama, that stability is the place true longevity lives.
You’ll be able to meet and study from these inspirational dance educators on the DanceOne Summit working August 13-16, in New York Metropolis. For extra info and to register for the Summit, go to www.danceonesummit.com.
By Mary Carpenter of Dance Informa.
