Refocusing Dance Education: A Three-Phase Research Initiative
Refocusing Dance Education is a multi-year initiative led by Art Spark Dance to reimagine the future of dance education by centering access, equity, and the lived experiences of people with disabilities. Supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and launched in 2021, the project unfolds in three phases:
Phase One: Interview Insights (2022)
The first phase began with national interviews conducted with dance educators, performers, artists, and advocates. These conversations explored how dance education can be structured to ensure greater access to professional training for people with disabilities. The resulting Interview Insights Report identified key priorities, including:
Centering people with disabilities and people who are Deaf in leadership roles
Developing innovative pedagogy rooted in accessibility and disability studies
Building networks and peer support across the field
Redefining who can dance, where dance happens, and what dance education can look like
Read the 2022 Interview Insights Report ›
Phase Two: National Gathering (2024)
In October 2024, Art Spark Dance hosted a hybrid national gathering at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX, bringing together artists, educators, and community members to translate early insights into action. This event created a collaborative space for identifying concrete steps to dismantle barriers in dance education. Participants worked across breakout groups, discussions, and movement sessions to imagine new pathways for inclusive dance. The outcomes were captured in the second report and a series of videos 1 and 2, which document actionable strategies and capture the artistic reflections from the gathering.
Phase Three: Regional Gatherings (2025–2026)
Building on the foundation of the 2024 Gathering, Phase Three expands the work through four regional gatherings across the United States. These convenings share findings, engage local communities, and develop actionable next steps in inclusive dance education. Each regional gathering activates practitioners and audiences through workshops, performances, and collaborative conversations.
The goal of Phase Three is to generate comprehensive reports detailing discussion topics, recommendations, and concrete actions—such as developing stable, disability-specific curricula, expanding mentorship pathways, and embedding accessibility across dance institutions.
The Long-Term Vision
Refocusing Dance Education is the culmination of Art Spark Dance’s initiative, begun in 2021, to foster a broader and more supportive dance educational environments for dancers with disabilities nationwide. By weaving together research, dialogue, and artistic collaboration, this project aims to shift the cultural landscape of dance education—ensuring that access, representation, and leadership by people with disabilities are at the center of the field’s future.
Phase 1; Refocusing Dance Education: Interview Insights (2022)
This first report in our multi-year research series grew out of an idea first imagined in 2020: to create a national gathering focused on access to dance education and the pedagogical practices. With early support from the National Endowment for the Arts, we began planning and listening—inviting dance educators, performers, artists, and advocates into 60-minute interviews with our research partner, Lynn Osgood of Civic Arts. These conversations laid the foundation for what would become Refocusing Dance Education.
The Interview Insights report captures the voices of these early contributors and identifies key priorities for the field, including:
Centering people with disabilities and people who are Deaf in leadership roles in dance education:
- Developing innovative pedagogy rooted in disability studies and accessible teaching practices.
- Building networks and peer support to sustain educators and artists.
- Expanding definitions of who can dance, where dance can happen, and how learning is structured.
- Restructuring educational systems to ensure greater access to professional training at all levels for people with disabilities.
These interviews were the first step in a process designed to take a deep look in ways in which we could be creating barrier free dance education for students with disabilities in the USA and to deepen knowledge of inclusive dance pedagogy, broaden representation of “physically integrated” dance to intentionally include people with developmental disabilities, people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, and people who are blind or have low vision.
Read the full report here: Refocusing Dance Education: Interview Insights (PDF).
Phase two: Performances
Our performance group, Body Shift Collective, has presented a number of improvisational works of dance in both traditional and non-traditional spaces. We have performed at Texas State University, Rollins Theatre, Ballet Austin, Texas Dance Improvisation Festival (TDIF), and Austin Dance Festival. Site-specific performances have been held at the Domain, Austin City Hall, Sparky Park, and other locations. Our performances feature dancers with and without disabilities, thereby shifting perceptions about who can dance and what a dancer looks like. Check out videos of performances at our YouTube channel.