Alumni Corner

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KATRINA BROWN-ALIFFI is a dance educator and teacher-leader at Democracy Prep Charter High School, the flagship school of Democracy Prep Public Schools in Harlem, New York, where she founded the school’s dance program in 2017. Prior to joining the Democracy Prep network, Brown-Aliffi piloted a middle school dance program within a different NYC-based charter network where she taught for three years.

Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, Brown-Aliffi earned a B.A. in Human Development and Family Studies with double minors in Business Administration and Social Entrepreneurship/Not-for-Profit Business Management from Samford University in 2013. As an undergraduate student, she was a member of her college’s dance team and on faculty at Dance Et Cetera, Birmingham Ballet, AileyCamp New York, Steel City Dance and Cheer, and the Samford University Campus Recreation Center.

Upon moving to New York in 2013, Brown-Aliffi graduated with an M.S. in General and Special Education from Touro College in 2014 and an M.A. in Dance Education from University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2019. She is grateful for the opportunity to have studied under, learned from, and collaborated with Dr. Clara Gerhardt, Dr. Mila Parrish, Dr. Martha Eddy, Diane McGhee Valle, Clarence Brooks, and many other inspiring scholars during her B.A. and M.A. programs.

In 2016, Brown-Aliffi was presented with an Orlean Bullard Beeson School of Education Inaugural Learning for Life Award for her dedication to continued education and learning. In 2021, she was recognized by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools as a “30 Under 30 Changemaker” for her commitment to scholarship on arts education in the charter sector.

Over the past decade, Brown-Aliffi has presented multiple workshops at the Southeastern Council on Family Relations, the National Dance Education Organization, and the International School Choice and Reform annual conferences, including “Teachers Who Advocate: Reframing the Impact of COVID-19 on Arts Education in the NYC Charter Sector” (2021; 2022) and “Dance Education in New York City Charter Schools: Engaging in Critical Dialogue on the State of the Arts within the Charter Sector” (2020).

In 2019, Brown-Aliffi authored Dance Education in New York City Charter Schools published by the Journal of Dance Education in mid-2020. Her chapter, “COVID-19 & Arts Education Programming in the NYC Charter Sector,” which is part of “COVID-19 and the Classroom: How Schools Navigated the Great Disruption” edited by Dr. David Marshall, will be published by Lexington Books in January 2022. Alongside co-author Dr. Mila Parrish, Brown-Aliffi is currently on contract with Human Kinetics working on the Dance Education edTPA Online Preparation Guide, to be published in mid-2022.

Given her experiences as a dance educator in the charter sector and her interests as a researcher, Brown-Aliffi intends to pursue an Interdisciplinary specialization as a doctoral student in the Ed.D. Dance Education Program at Teachers College. She plans to continue to study dance and arts education within the charter sector and situate her work at the intersection of dance education and charter schools.

Joan Finkelstein (MFA, BFA: NYU Tisch School of the Arts), currently Executive Director of the Harkness Foundation for Dance, (www.harknessfoundation.org) performed professionally throughout the U.S. and Europe with the Cliff Keuter, Don Redlich, and Jean-Léon Destiné Afro-Haitian dance companies and was original cast in RAGS on Broadway.

A recipient of NEA and NARB Choreographer’s Fellowships, her work was commissioned by Atlanta Ballet, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and South Carolina Ballet Theatre. Her own company Moving Pictures presented seasons in various NYC venues.

She has taught children, teens, college students, professional and vocational adult dancers across the nation. As Director of the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center (1992-2004) she oversaw a school offering 100 classes/ week, rehearsal space grants, workshops for professional dancers, dance lectures, weekly social dances, and the Dance Education Laboratory (“DEL") teacher-training program, co-founded with Jody Gottfried Arnhold. She curated the Y’s dance performance programs including student and adult student recitals, the Fridays at Noon and Sundays at Three series of informal professional showings, and the 92Y Harkness Dance Project, an annual five-week fully produced festival featuring five professional companies in 25 performances.

As Director of Dance for the New York City Department of Education (2004-2014) she spearheaded the creation of the NYC Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Dance, PreK-12, chairing all meetings with participating contributors, and organizing and writing the final copy. In addition, she worked with a team of writers to create the Blueprint special education supplement Dance Education for Diverse Learners and created the Arts Education Manual for School Leaders with contributions from her colleagues at the DOE’s Arts Office. With a team of DOE high school dance educators, she produced a NYSED-approved Intro to Dance high school survey course. She developed and administered citywide student dance assessments including the NYC Comprehensive Dance Examination for high school dance majors, and the dance portion of ARTS ACHIEVE, a USDOE-funded five-year arts assessment project. FINKELSTEIN supervised the Capezio Ballet Makers Schools Outreach Program providing free student dancewear, and co-supervised Summer Arts Institute, a month-long intensive for 350 auditioned middle and high school students. Throughout her tenure FINKELSTEIN led citywide dance teacher PD, supported by a Dance Educator Leadership Training Alliance (DELTA) workshop facilitator team of master DOE dance educators and teaching artists. She was the Dance Education Consultant for the New York Emmy-nominated film PS DANCE! and a member of the 2014 National Core Arts Standards in Dance and 2017 New York State Learning Standards in Dance Revision Committee writing teams.

ANDREA MARKUS is a dance educator, choreographer and mentor. She is currently a faculty member of New York University's Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions, Marymount Manhattan College's Department of Dance, Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and the Ailey School. Markus has worked as a teaching artist and facilitator at the 92nd Street Y Dance Education Laboratory, ArtsConnection, Alvin Ailey Arts in Education and Community Programs, Ballet Hispanico, Dancewave and Global Arts to Go. Markus was born in Jamaica, West Indies. Her family migrated to America before she turned 10 years old for educational opportunities. Her desire to support fellow immigrants as well as volunteerism as a core value led Markus to work with the organization iMentor. Through iMentor, Markus works one-on- one with a student who is a recent immigrant from an underserved community to help empower her to graduate high school, attend and succeed in college and achieve her goals. Markus studied dance at Ithaca College, Ballet School New York, Dance New Amsterdam, Fareta and The Limon Institute. She has traveled to Guinea, West Africa to study dance and drumming with members of the national companies Les Ballets Africains de Guinea and Ballet Djoliba. She has performed as a concert dancer with the Alpha Omega 1-7 Theatrical Dance Company, performing dance works by George Faison, Eleo Pomare, and as well as other artists. Markus has also danced with the West African- based performance group, Magbana Drum & Dance NYC. Markus has presented works at NDEO, NYSDEA, Arts in Education Roundtable’s Face-to-Face Conference, NDA, and Dance Teacher Summit. She has worked as a coach/facilitator for the NYCDOE Arts Achieve and Arts Matter programs. In 2016, she received the NYSDEA Outstanding Teaching Artist Award. Markus received a B.A. in Biology with a minor is Spanish from Ithaca College and an M.A. in Dance and Dance Education from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development. Markus intends to pursue the Interdisciplinary specialization as a doctoral student within the Ed.D. Dance Education Program at Teachers College. Her research interests include examining and understanding the history of African arts for teacher training, youth empowerment and social justice.

Chell Parkins is the inaugural Arnold director of dance education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a doctoral candidate in the dance education program at Teachers College. She is a dance scholar, advocate, educator, choreographer, and performer whose research explores the experiences of Latinx communities engaged in culturally relevant and sustaining dance programs. While attending Teachers College as a doctoral fellow, she co-founded and co-chaired TC’s student-parent group and served as the residential student senator, earning a Shirley Chisholm Trailblazer Award, Exemplary Impact Award, and TC Student Leadership Grant. Her recent documentary, WanderlustDance: Puerto Rico, premiered at the Manhattan Film Festival, inviting audiences to look at the culture, politics, and people of post-Maria Puerto Rico through interviews set against footage of solo dance performances at picturesque and historical sites across the archipelago. She has been a guest lecturer in dance programs at Kennesaw State University, Central Connecticut State University, and New York University and is an ongoing visiting lecturer for the child and adolescent psychiatry fellows at Oregon Health and Science University. She served as a scholar in residence and consultant to the community engagement director at Ballet Hispánico, has made numerous presentations and webinars at NDEO and DaCI, and served as a panelist for the Shirley Hall Bass Dance Educators Forum to discuss culturally appropriate methods for creating dance standards in the Bahamas.

Previously, as the executive director of the Tennessee Association of Dance, a core member of ArtsEd Tennessee, and fine arts subject matter expert for the Tennessee Department of Education, she became a leading voice in advocating for equitable access to dance education in Tennessee. She was also a full-time lecturer in dance at Middle Tennessee State University, where she helped create and implement the first and only stand-alone dance major program in the state, focusing on developing a dance education track. She also co-directed a Maymester abroad program in the Guatemalan Highlands, where students performed and conducted movement workshops at K’iche and Kaqchikel elementary schools. From 2012-2015, Parkins was the director of dance and drill team at Manor High School, a predominately working-class Latinx high school in rural Texas. Her publication “Dance Media Collaborations: Engaging At-Risk Youth” details how her students used choreographic methods, technology, and social media to explore cultural identity and social issues.

As a dancer, she has performed with MADCO, Steamroller, Bibliodance, Forklift Danceworks, and in the film Bernie with Jack Black. Her choreography has been featured in Dancers’ Footwork Bread and Butter Series, MOMFest, Frontera Fest, Dance Carousel, Coen’s New Works Festival, Big Range Dance Festival, and internationally at the Millennium Forum in Northern Ireland, and ZAWP, AZALA, and outside the Guggenheim Bilbao in Spain.

Parkins earned a B.A. in Dance and Acting from Washington University in St. Louis and an M.F.A. in Dance from The University of Texas at Austin. She holds certifications for 9-12 Dance Education and K-12 Physical Education in and Texas, and is a certified STOTT Pilates instructor.

Susan Gaddy Pope is a retired dance educator with over 30 years’ experience in K-12. Currently, she is an adjunct professor at Montclair State University where she teaches BA & BFA dance majors the joys and concepts of creative movement for children. She also supervises student teachers at Rutgers University. Previously she taught dance for the Newark Board of Education and New York City Department of Education where she also directed the SUMA/Children’s Aid Society Dance Company. Pope holds a BA in dance from the University of Maryland and a MA in dance education from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Pope is an Arnhold Fellow and recipient of the Susan H. Fuhrman scholarship. Her research focuses on embodied pedagogy through an indigenous and Africanist lens. Her non-profit organization, I DANCE BECAUSE, provides scholarships for Newark dance students and transformative, educational programs for students and teachers. Along with two other Newark dance educators, Susan was awarded an ArtStart grant to create a documentary, Brick City Dance: A Renaissance Endeavor which explores the impact of dance education in Newark Public Elementary Schools over the last 20 years.

As a published author, Susan has contributed to the depth of knowledge in dance education through journals and books. Her publications include articles in Dance Education in Practice titled: Moving Meditations: A Guide to Embodying Gratitude, Teaching Dance History to Middle School Students, an article in the International Journal of AAHPERD titled Mourning Into Dancing – The Transformation of Lives: A Personal Journey; I DANCE BECAUSE…, a collection of stories, essays and poems about dance; and DANCING MY PRAYERS, a guide to combining movement and prayer in your devotional life. Her latest book chapter in The Loveliness Project helps elevate the voices of Black women. Popes research focuses on embodied pedagogy in urban teacher preparation programs.

Pope is a frequent presenter for New Jersey Performing Arts Center Community Engagement Program, providing workshops for the community. She also serves on the NJPAC dance advisory council. In May of 2000, Pope was invited to the White House to speak at a conference titled Raising Responsible and Resourceful Youth. She spoke on the impact of dance education in the lives of her students. In 1998 she was selected to be in Who’s Who Among American Teachers. Pope served as the director of the St. James AME Church Dance Ministry for over 10 years. She is a member of the National Liturgical Dance Ministry Network, National Dance Education Organization, Dance New Jersey, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. Pope believes God created her with the definite purpose of helping others through movement.

Pope intends to pursue the Teacher Education specialization. Her research interests include assessment and learning disabilities.

DAGMAR SPAIN is an educator and dance artist at various institutions worldwide; most recently, she has developed dance educational programs, including virtual and in-person workshops and lectures with the theme Bridging Democracy with Dance at the National Czech/Slovak Museum & Library (NCSML) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She continues to conduct independent programs, including research at DanceWorks, Berlin, a professional dance institution, and teaches at the University of New York in Prague, where she developed the course Literature in Contemporary Society: Self-expression through Dramatic Monologues in the summer program. She is a language/movement specialist and conducts ongoing Poetry/Movement workshops internationally to all populations to unleash the healing power of embodied words.

An early knee injury shortened her life as a ballet dancer, and she stepped into the genre of dance-theater. Her first professional engagement in Germany was at the city theater in Bremen, with choreographer Heidrun Vielhauer and theater director Rotraut de Neve. During her time there, she received the Young Dancer’s Award, being recognized in the critics’ review of the German magazine Tanz Aktuell as one of the best young dancers of that year. At this conjunction, she started her acting career and was a member of the theater company Traumtaenzer in Frankfurt. Spain’s inquisitive nature brought her to New York to broaden her education and dance knowledge with companies that include Risa Jaroslow & Dancers, H.T. Chen, Chuck Davis, Elaine Shipman, American Dance Ensemble, and Maxine Steinman & Dancers. In the U.S., she taught as a dance artist and visiting professor at Brown University, PennState University, Montclair University, and from 1999-2007 at the 92nd St. Y, Harkness Dance Center.

In 2000, she founded her own company Dance Imprints, with the intent to combine literary works with physical expression. Her choreography has been presented and commissioned in the U.S.A., Canada, Germany, Japan, Bulgaria, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic. Her choreographic works also include choreographies for plays and film, including the political play Marat/Sade by Peter Weiss, featured in a movie at the Biennale in Liverpool in 2012.

She received her B.F.A in dance from the College for Dance and Performing Arts, Frankfurt, Germany and her M.F.A. in dance and choreography from the Tisch School of the Arts, N.Y.U. She graduated from the School of Authors Schreibhain in Berlin and writes plays, monologues, poetry, including her first novel which she finished in the spring of 2020.

Her most recent performances with Czech puppeteer Michaela Bartonova - commissioned by the Goethe Institute in Prague - touched on her family history while touring in her home country - Czechia. Spain is featured as a dancer, dance educator, and choreographer in the book Notable American Women with Czechoslovak Roots (Miloslav Rechcigi, JR., 2019).

Spain intends to pursue the Teacher Education specialization at Teachers College Columbia as a doctoral student. Her focus lies in the holistic approach of dance pedagogy through somatic practices in conjunction with dance techniques while exploring her ongoing question regarding how the individual is shaped in institutionalized education, especially post-communist societies.

Katrina Brown-Aliffi

Joan Finkelstein

Andrea Markus

Chell Parkins

Susan Gaddy Pope

Dagmar Spain

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