About This Degree
Through this partnership between the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) and NYU Steinhardt, you’ll combine ballet pedagogy, research, and arts management course work with master classes in ballet technique. You’ll receive an MA in Teaching Dance in the Professions as well as ABT teaching certification in Pre-Primary through Level 7 and Partnering in ABT's National Training Curriculum.
- Official title
- Master of Arts in Dance Education: Teaching Dance in the Professions and ABT Ballet Pedagogy
Fall Start
Application deadline
- January 15
As you enhance both your prowess as a ballet dancer and your skill as an educator, you’ll learn:
- How to examine dance through a pedagogic lens to select and apply teaching and learning processes appropriate to various settings and populations
- How to critically evaluate, review, and put into practice varying educational models in order to develop your own teaching philosophies and skills
- How to research methods to examine existing bases of information and create new knowledge in the field
- A complete understanding of the use of the biomechanics of movement, artistic imagery, and the development of students on professional and recreational tracks of study
The curriculum is designed to be completed in three terms (including summer) of full-time study, and includes core classes in research and dance pedagogy, course work in ABT ballet pedagogy, and guided electives. Pedagogy and research are complemented with an arts management course, helping to prepare you for employment in multiple settings. The culminating project of this track is a curriculum plan or research project. The dance teaching aspect of this graduate curriculum is taught by ABT master teachers who emphasize the development of the ballet dancer.
This program allows you to build on your background as an accomplished ballet dancer and prepare for a career as a dance educator in private studios, conservatories, company schools, and community settings.
Through integrated fieldwork studies, you'll cultivate professional networks in the dance capital of the world, while visiting exemplary artistry, teaching, and learning venues in New York City.
You must have prior ballet training and must be able to:
- Concentrate and be physically engaged in studio work
- Execute ballet-based movements that require an understanding of correct turnout, the ability to extend and stretch, bending and straightening the knees, balancing, jumping, and turning
- Follow and respond to verbal instructions
- Demonstrate physical familiarity with ballet vocabulary
- Possess a level of endurance, strength, and flexibility to demonstrate technique and artistic imagery at least sufficient for teaching
- Possess the emotional maturity to adapt to different intellectual and artistic environments and the uncertainty and stresses of the teaching and artistic professions
Be Part of an Amazing Legacy
Watch three alumni talk about their experience in the program and how it helped prepare them for their teaching careers.
Student Experience
Our rich program harnesses the vibrancy of New York City and combines theory with practice through opportunities for performance, professional development, travel, and more.
Take the Next Step
Advance your personal and professional journey – apply to join our community of students.