Beyond Dance Steps: Building a Holistic Dance Curriculum From the Ground Up

Most ballet educators inherited the program they're teaching in. The syllabus, the culture, the performance calendar, the expectations. They arrived already built. You stepped in and learned how to run it, and if you've ever felt the quiet friction of teaching inside a structure that doesn't quite reflect what you actually believe about students and learning, you're not alone.

Alison Hennessey didn't inherit a program. She built one from the ground up.

As one of the founding faculty members at California School of the Arts – San Gabriel Valley, Alison had to ask every question that most educators never get to ask: What are we actually training these students for? What does technical progression look like when it's designed intentionally, not defaulted to? How do artistry, performance opportunity, and student development fit together into something coherent—something that builds a whole dancer, not just a technically capable one?

This session is…