Hunter College Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program

Last week, we celebrated our fall 2025 and spring 2026 Dance Education graduates at the annual AGDEP Pinning Ceremony! 👩‍🎓💫 This special ceremony celebrated graduates from our BA-MA, MA, and Advanced Certificate in Dance Education programs, as well as our inaugural cohort of dance graduates from the MSEd in Educational Leadership (CLASS) program!

We were joined by President Nancy Cantor, Dean Julie Gorlewski, and Jody Arnhold, who spoke to our students about their important role as dance educators, life-long learners, and AGDEP and the ‘s shared commitment to providing high-quality Dance education to New York City’s students 💜 Our graduates’ families and friends also joined the celebration both in person and via livestream (for the first time ever!).

Check back next week for a highlight of this academic year, featuring our recent grads!

Photos by 📸

Earlier this week, we had the joy of welcoming to Hunter College for a special masterclass with our current Dance and Dance Education students and AGDEP alumni 💃 Lizt shared her approach to Cuban Fusion dance with our students, leading us through a warm up and phrase work that emphasized a fusion of Cuban, Western concert, and African dance forms.

This workshop was especially special, as Lizt’s company is our partner in our annual study abroad trip to Havana, Cuba. 🇨🇺

This semester we welcomed acclaimed choreographer Ephrat Asherie to Hunter to work with our graduate dance and dance education students on creating and performing a new choreographic work. 👯 After weeks of hard work and rehearsal, “For the Record” premiered at our 2026 AGDEP Annual Concert last weekend! Featuring graduate students from both the Dance and Dance Education programs, this work supported collaboration across our programs and students. 🕺

Scroll through for more moments of joy from “For the Record” captured by Nir Arieli!

More photos from our 2026 AGDEP Annual Concert are in! 🌟 The AGDEP Annual Concert is our culminating performance that features works by graduate dance education students at Hunter College. Through their work with Prof. Pedro Ruiz in the spring Performance & Presentation course, our dance education students create original choreographic works that reflect their artistic interests and research. Prof. Ruiz mentors students through the choreographic process from the inception of their creative ideas, through their development of meaningful structures/designs, intention, and final elements of their work. 💃

Scroll through to check out more photos by Nir Arieli!

Earlier this month, we welcomed Erasmus Visiting Professor Dr. Raquel Pastor Prada to Hunter and to our NYC Public School dance classrooms! Dr. Pastor Prada came to visit us all the way from Madrid, Spain to learn more about NYC Public Schools’ dance programs 💃 While visiting, Dr. Pastor Prada also taught workshops on traditional Northern Spanish dances to our students at Hunter and NYCPS dance students 🌟

A special THANK YOU to our NYCPS dance teachers who invited Dr. Pastor Prada into their classrooms throughout the week, and to our partners at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and 92NY/DEL who met with Dr. Pastor Prada to share their frameworks for dance education 👩‍🏫

Our HUM201 collaborative workshops have been warming up our studios the past few weeks! 👯

These workshops are taught by current AGDEP students (shout out to our spring 2026 team Julia Larcenaire, Rose Elliott, and Chris Bisram!) to HUM201: Explorations in the Arts students. 🎭 These students participate in these workshops prior to seeing a dance performance at New York City Center, gaining an embodied understanding of the work before their experience as audience members 🌟

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… application season! 🌟❄️☃️

Applications are open now through March 15, 2026 for the…

❄️BA in Dance Education
❄️MA in Dance Education
❄️Advanced Certificate in Dance Education
❄️MSEd in Educational Leadership (CLASS)

Scroll through this post for your full guide, to applying to AGDEP ➡️ still have questions? Email us at [email protected]!

Photos by 📸

AGDEP representing in an Embodied Dance History workshop at this week 🌟 Summer is a wonderful time for reconnecting with our colleagues, and bringing together out current students and alumni to dance together 👯🪩

Shout out to our 2025 Arnhold Summer Fellow, Emma Garber! ✨