The “Doyenne of Dance” has done it again!
Jody Gottfried Arnhold, who established the Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program at Hunter College in 2010, is helping AGDEP expand its degree offerings with a $237,000 gift.
The contribution will support partial scholarships for two new programs. The first, a Dance Education Advanced Certificate, will provide an affordable pathway for professional dancers and dance artists to become K-12 certified dance teachers. The second initiative, the Dance Education CLASS Leadership program, will confer a master’s degree that enables experienced dance teachers to become senior school administrators.
“These innovative programs, spearheaded by Ana Nery Fragoso, will continue to enrich the dance education landscape in New York City,” Mrs. Arnhold said. “The certificate program will provide a much-needed affordable path for professional dancers to become certified to teach dance in K-12 public schools. The CLASS program will ensure that dance education has advocates among school leadership where important resource allocation decisions are made.”
Mrs. Arnhold is a former New York City public-school dance teacher and a renowned philanthropist with a nationwide impact in dance education. She is the founder of the Dance Education Laboratory, board chair of 92NY, and chair emeritus of Ballet Hispanico. She is also the daughter and niece of Hunter alumnae.
The Arnhold Foundation, which she founded with her husband John Arnhold, has contributed almost $7 million to Hunter College since 2010 for scholarships, program support, and infrastructure renovations supporting dance education. The Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program has graduated more than 150 certified dance teachers, almost all of whom are teaching in New York City public and charter schools.
