Jody Gottfried Arnhold
Chair of the Board, 92nd Street Y, New York City Dance, Educator and Advocate, Founder, Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) 92NY
Jody Gottfried Arnhold, Founder of Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) at 92Y, is a luminary in dance education and an advocate for dance. She is Executive Producer of the New York Emmy nominated documentary, PS DANCE! Dance Education in New York City Public Schools and PS DANCE! Next Generation. She created these documentaries to raise awareness and advocate for her mission, Dance for Every Child.
Jody’s experiences teaching dance in New York City public schools for 25 years have been the catalyst for her visionary support of dance education in public schools. Her contributions to dance in higher education have created unparalleled opportunities for dance to be taught, researched, measured, and analyzed - providing substantial evidence that dance is essential to every child’s education. Jody’s support for arts programming at the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) has created a robust and thriving community of dance educators. The Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program at Hunter College, which Jody created to serve as a pipeline to train and certify dance educators, has contributed to the more than 500 certified dance educators currently teaching dance in NYC public schools. Her founding and visionary support for the Doctorate in Dance Education and the Arnhold Institute for Dance Education Research, Policy & Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University is generating valuable thought leadership for dance education in public policy ensuring that wherever education is discussed - dance is also discussed. In addition to her support of dance in public schools and higher education, Jody supports countless New York City dance companies including Ballet Hispanico where she is Honorary Chair. She also mentors dance educators many of whom now lead the field.
Jody is Chair of the Board, 92nd Street Y, New York. She also serves on the Board of Directors at Lincoln Center, Ballet Hispanico, and Hunter College Foundation. She is a Director of Arnhold Foundation, Harkness Foundation for Dance, and Mulago Foundation.
Jody is Chair of the Hunter College Dance Advisory Board, and serves on the Dance/NYC Advisory Committee, NYCDOE Arts Committee to the Panel on Educational Policy, and Co-Chair of the NYCDOE Committee to create the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Dance Grades PreK-12.
She has received numerous awards including the New 42nd Street Marian Heiskell Award, Floria V. Lasky Award, National Dance Education Organization’s Visionary Award, Teachers College Distinguished Alumni Award, Education Update’s Distinguished Leader in Education Award, and Dance Films Association’s Dance in Focus Award.
Jody is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from The Juilliard School and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Hunter College for her visionary support of dance and dance education. She has also been honored by Lincoln Center Education, Dance Theatre of Harlem, José Limón Dance Foundation, and American Dance Guild. Jody received an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from The Juilliard School and has been honored by Lincoln Center Education, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Jose Limon Dance Foundation, and American Dance Guild for her contributions to dance and dance education.
Jody holds a BA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, an MA in Dance Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and is a Certified Movement Analyst (CMA).
