Creative Scholarship Highlight: Suzanne Miller-Corso
College of Visual and Performing Arts
As the recipient of the Betty Coe (’64) and Paul J. Cinquegrana Presidential Chair of Faculty Award for 2023-2024, Professor of Dance, Suzanne Miller-Corso, had the opportunity to develop the Dance Education Outreach Initiative, a project dedicated to pre-service dance education and community engagement. This initiative connected pre-service dance educators with culturally diverse, under-resourced, and marginalized communities in Harrisonburg, fostering meaningful partnerships and expanding access to dance education.
The initiative had three primary objectives: (1) to build relationships and provide dance and movement experiences for youth and adults in underserved communities; (2) to offer hands-on teaching opportunities for pre-service dance education students pursuing PreK-12 teaching licensure; and (3) to enhance students' teaching methodologies through participation in the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) Conference in Fall 2023, where they engaged in community-based dance workshops.
The Cinquegrana Award provided critical support, allowing Suzanne to take a semester leave to establish sustainable relationships with organizations such as Second Home, Church World Services, and Rockingham Academy. This dedicated time enabled her to develop a community-based dance curriculum and create deeper connections with these organizations. To ensure pre-service dance educators gained valuable teaching experience, they led dance programs in these communities under my mentorship. They were compensated with stipends for their work in lesson planning and instruction, and in future iterations of the project, course credit will be offered in place of stipends.
A portion of the award also funded travel, registration, and accommodations for 10 pre-service dance educators to attend the NDEO Conference, where they participated in workshops focused on dance engagement in community settings. These sessions provided invaluable insights and best practices, reinforcing our mission of using dance as a tool for education, inclusivity, and empowerment. By integrating conference learning with hands-on teaching experiences, the Dance Education Outreach Initiative has created a foundation for sustainable, long-term engagement with local communities, ensuring that dance remains an accessible and transformative force in education.
The initiative had three primary objectives: (1) to build relationships and provide dance and movement experiences for youth and adults in underserved communities; (2) to offer hands-on teaching opportunities for pre-service dance education students pursuing PreK-12 teaching licensure; and (3) to enhance students' teaching methodologies through participation in the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) Conference in Fall 2023, where they engaged in community-based dance workshops.
The Cinquegrana Award provided critical support, allowing Suzanne to take a semester leave to establish sustainable relationships with organizations such as Second Home, Church World Services, and Rockingham Academy. This dedicated time enabled her to develop a community-based dance curriculum and create deeper connections with these organizations. To ensure pre-service dance educators gained valuable teaching experience, they led dance programs in these communities under my mentorship. They were compensated with stipends for their work in lesson planning and instruction, and in future iterations of the project, course credit will be offered in place of stipends.
A portion of the award also funded travel, registration, and accommodations for 10 pre-service dance educators to attend the NDEO Conference, where they participated in workshops focused on dance engagement in community settings. These sessions provided invaluable insights and best practices, reinforcing our mission of using dance as a tool for education, inclusivity, and empowerment. By integrating conference learning with hands-on teaching experiences, the Dance Education Outreach Initiative has created a foundation for sustainable, long-term engagement with local communities, ensuring that dance remains an accessible and transformative force in education.
