Three UCSB Department of Theater and Dance students—Kate Monney, Kennadi Davis, and Avery Trask—were selected as 2026 Arnhold Summer Fellows, giving them the opportunity to spend three weeks in New York City studying dance education through the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) Summer Intensive.
The Arnhold Summer Fellows Program brings together college and university students from across the country who are interested in dance education. Fellows participate in the DEL Summer Intensive at 92NY, taking part in courses and experiences designed to explore how dance can be used as a tool for creativity, learning, and connection. The program also provides fellows with support for tuition, housing, and travel.
For Kate Monney, the intensive offered new ways to think about both dance and teaching.
“In the three weeks at the DEL Summer Intensive I not only learned how to use movement as a tool for creativity, learning, and connection, but I also made a lot of new friends and built my own dance community along the way.”
She plans to carry what she learned into her own teaching, particularly the idea that learning does not have to be confined to a traditional classroom.
“I feel it has given me numerous tools to use in my future studios and classes to engage my students and has taught me that learning does not always have to happen while sitting at a desk and that dance and movement can be used to teach any subject.”
Kennadi Davis found herself rethinking the creative process. The DEL framework gave her a way to simplify dance-making and make creative exploration more accessible.
“As a dancer of 17 years, it is far too easy to over complicate a simple task, treating every step of creation as precious and nondisposable. The DEL framework distills the essential components of dance creation and makes the process something that anyone can do.”
A course focused on dance education for young children was another highlight for Davis. She came away with new ideas for creating lessons that encourage imagination and keep young students engaged.
“After DEL’s early childhood module, I feel so much more equipped to lean into the imagination, playfulness, and wonder that helps keep younger students engaged. I feel so much more prepared to build a lesson plan around a central theme that, from beginning to end, tells a cohesive, engaging story!”
For Avery Trask, the experience reinforced why dance education matters in the first place.
“DEL boils everything down to the fact that there is no dance without dance education. The work that we do as the next generation of dance educators is imperative to the continuance of our art form.”
Trask also appreciated the ways DEL encourages students to look beyond technique and find connections between dance and the world around them.
“Dance is so much more than technicality. The DEL method allows students to explore their own creativity through play and exploration while engaging with an overarching topic that can be virtually anything. We can create dances inspired by everyday routines like cooking, connect movement to scientific phenomena such as outer space, or use dance to recount key moments in history. Dance can be found in and can help us explore almost anything.”
For Kate, Kennadi, and Avery, the fellowship was an opportunity to learn alongside other emerging dance educators while gaining practical tools they can bring into their own classrooms and studios. Their experience in New York also offered a chance to build connections within a larger community of artists and educators—connections they will carry with them as they continue their work in dance.
Photo credits: Christopher Duggan and Cherylynn Tsushima with Nel Shelby Productions