The Dance Educators Committee is pleased to announce the 2022 nominees for the Dance Educators Award. Each year, the committee are overwhelmed by the nominations of dance educators working tirelessly across the globe to nurture dancers of all ages and backgrounds, sharing their knowledge and passion and utilizing dance science knowledge to inspire future generations of dancers and dance teachers. 

Past recipients of the award include Edel Quin, Karen Clippinger, Janice Plastino, Janet Karin, Emma Redding and Nico Kolokythas. The winner of the Dance Educators award will be announced at the IADMS 32nd Annual Conference in Limerick, Ireland. 

In this blog post we learn a little about the wonderful work of the remainder of the nominees for this years’ award. Be sure to also check out part 1, to learn about the other nominees. 

N.B Nominees are listed in no particular order

Boglàrka Simon-Hatala - nominated by Simona Volpe and others

Boglàrka is a neuroscientist, physiotherapist and health scientist working with professional dancers. Her ongoing research aims to improve the understanding of the complex interplay of the social interactions, individual trauma experiences, and human health in dance, in order to help the transformation of dance communities to safer and healthier environments. Within her work, Boglàrka has prioritized dancer’s holistic well-being by taking into  consideration all 3 aspects of the bio-psycho-social model of human health. She believes that the understanding of cultural aspects of dance supports safe and efficient motor learning and artistic creativity.

Teshia Lincoln - nominated by Ahsaki Thomas

Teshia is an educator and dance instructor who believes movement arts can affect change from a creative aesthetical experience, and that teaching is a lifelong learning process about new philosophies and new strategies. Dance art is used to communicate different messages within different contexts. In the creative space, Teshia fosters and maintains a strong sense of supportive collaboration to ensure a safe, risk-taking environment, where inquiry, inspiration, fearlessness, and humor enable practical discovery and personal revelation.

Debbie Polisky - nominated by Julio Corazza 

Debbie is a healthcare professional and dancer, specializing in nutrition and wellness and also involved in research relating to Tango for health including with cardiac patients, obesity, and cancer. Debbie prioritizes a holistic wellbeing and works to blend Latin dance, mindfulness, nutrition, stress management with traditional medicine within their medical centre.

Emily Twitchett - nominated by Andrea Kozai

Emily is a dance school owner and teacher who has been able to utilise her knowledge of anatomy, physiology, sports and exercise science, athletic training, and sports psychology to influence her teaching. To more effectively integrate this into her own teaching Emily opened her own programme that had a unique ethos; that of equal emphasis on training fitness, sound technique (or skill development), and artistry, all with safe and effective dance training as the priority. Emily believes that everyone should be able to experience the many benefits of dance, in a safe and supportive environment, and to achieve whatever goals they want.

Vincent Yong - nominated by Charlotta Krafft

Vincent is an artist and somatic practitioner. Through his work Vincent has a strong focus that “it is not the perfection you are trying to reach but paying attention to the manner of progression”. Through this somatic approach, Vincent believes that aesthetics in dance must never be sought without consulting with the kinaesthetic or somatic feedback. “A defining moment in dance is when we know who we are in practice and who we want to become.”

Christina Ling - nominated by Patrick Ling

Christina is a community ballet teacher with a holistic approach to teaching, underpinned by her background in healthcare and kinesiology. She believes that all student dancers deserve access to accurate, reliable information about training, rest, nutrition, mental well-being, creativity, and the art of dance. Christina strives to give every dancer attention and to see them each as unique, valuable and important.

Likhit Jaidee School of Architecture and Fine Arts - nominated by Likhit Jaidee

Likhit is a lecturer and teacher of Thai Dance in Thailand and has developed a bachelors degree programme that combines Thai dramatic arts and drama with neuroscience. Within this work, Likhit has focused on research investigating the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in Thai dancers, and utilized this information to adjust teaching and learning processes within the course. Likhit believes that developing teaching in parallel with researching helps to develop students' potential and brings the knowledge of dance science to develop dancers of all ages.

Sonia Rafferty - nominated by Edel Quin and others

Sonia is a Dance Artist, Teacher, Dance Science/Safe Practice Consultant with over 20 years of experience. Her research has emerged from her practice and is then immediately re-applied. This embodied approach is driven by advancing scientific knowledge but also fuelled by experiential practitioner wisdom. Sonia believes that being a dance educator isn’t a one way thing – “it’s not about what I do, it’s what WE do”.