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Sharing a Love of Dance
Barry Blumenfeld honored by NYSDEA
“Dance is for sharing, not for keeping.”
Dance Teacher Barry Blumenfeld concludes his educational philosophy statement with these words, and he puts them into action every day teaching students from grades K-12 at Friends. This week Barry was honored with the Outstanding Dance Educator Pre K-12 Award from the New York State Dance Education Association. He is pictured with Andrew Jannetti, NYSDEA President on the left and Karen Camp, NYSDEA Director of Awards on the right.
Barry says that he believes “in the power of dance to be a means of understanding the self, the world and the relationship between them,” and that “the teacher’s job is to guide the the student to the realization that their body is another tool they have to contribute to any conversation.” He sees teaching as facilitating and says, “I make the space — physical and emotional — available for my students to safely explore and facilitate the process of their self-discovery. In many ways, I seek to bring people together so that those involved can teach themselves and each other.”
To this end, Barry has worked with the 92nd Street Y’s Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) to develop an app that puts the tools for dance education into the hands of teachers and students of all disciplines. Called “Dance Maker,” the app provides activities and resources to be used by teachers and students, as well anyone else who enjoys dance. Read more about the app and DEL by visiting the website here.
Over the past eighteen years, Barry has developed and grown a thriving Dance Program at Friends Seminary that includes regular dance and movement classes throughout Lower and Middle School. (In fact, it was the program growth in the Middle School that prompted the creation of an additional full time faculty position in 2015.) In the Upper School, students can choose dance classes as part of their Physical Education or Performing Arts requirements, and can choose from Tap Dance, Modern Dance, Capoeira and Choreography Lab. Performances range from the annual Lower School Dance Assembly to the Dancers Responding to AIDS Concert hosted in the Meetinghouse each spring.
Friends is grateful to Barry for his dedication to dance education at Friends Seminary, and we congratulate him on this well-deserved award.
Friends Seminary actively promotes diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism in all its programs and operations, including admissions, financial aid, hiring, and all facets of the educational experience. To form a community which strives to reflect the world’s diversity, we do not discriminate on the basis of race or color, religion, nationality, ethnicity, economic background, physical ability, sex, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation. Friends Seminary is an equal opportunity employer.
Friends Seminary — the oldest continuously operated, coeducational school in NYC — serves college-bound day students in Kindergarten-Grade 12.
