School of Music, Theatre, and Dance Professor Daniel Gwirtzman presents at National Dance Education Organization’s Conference in Denver, Colorado

By Daniel Gwirtzman, September 30, 2023

Teaching Is Leading: Embracing Our Impact and Opportunity as Dance Educators

Daniel Gwirtzman, Assistant Professor of Dance, attended the 25th Annual National Dance Education Organization conference Teaching Is Leading: Embracing Our Impact and Opportunity as Dance Educators, September 28-October 1, 2023 at the Hyatt Regency Convention Center in Denver, Colorado. He presented Creating Comfort in the Classroom: Cooperation Through Partnering, an interactive movement workshop and lecture/conversation centered on the conference's theme of Leadership as a Teacher in the Studio.

Creating Comfort in the Classroom: Cooperation Through Partnering

Daniel working with workshop participants in the Hyatt Convention Center.

Daniel sharing feedback with two dance educators during the session.

Daniel explained: “One of the greatest gifts dance education can promote is the pleasure of working collaboratively with another person.” In his session, participants worked exclusively with partners throughout the workshop. With this design the typical hierarchy and structure between students with an instructor and a class are re-defined, a shift which allows for greater intrinsic student learning and which fosters a constant feedback loop of validation, discovery, and self-assessment. Daniel’s thesis is that changing the paradigm of a technique class from the sole focus on one’s self to a focus on another brings many benefits. Demonstrating leadership through an empathic approach enables students to take greater ownership of their studies and learning, and allows them to problem solve more flexibly in the moment. Partnering skills depend upon impulsive, pliable, and perceptive decision-making. Observing both the large and subtle shifts which occur in real-time in another student's work requires a keen insight. The focus on listening and sensing requires a focused frame of mind and the capacity to consider another before and equal to one’s self. Students learn to think collectively, developing empathy, rather than viewing themselves as a single entity going through a dance class.