Designing Embodied Education in Dance
Origin
June 2018
European Dance Development Network (EDN) & Dance Ireland Atelier
The DEED network grew out of the European Dance Development Network (EDN) and Dance Ireland Atelier, which took place in Dublin on 29-30 June 2018.
Curated by Dr Jenny Roche, the Atelier explored multi-faceted issues surrounding vocational dance education, including how to innovate in this context. ​Roche invited Dr Caroline Ribbers to present initial findings from her doctoral research into supporting dance students' embodied learning through yoga and meta-learning.
May 2019
Working Group
at Fontys Academy of the Arts in Tilburg, The Netherlands
Inspired by their conversations during the atelier, Ribbers and Roche decided to join forces with Prof. Ingo Diehl and organise a working group meeting (held at the Fontys Academy of the Arts in Tilburg, The Netherlands, on 9-10-11 May 2019 and funded by Erasmus+Staff Training). In this meeting, they discussed design-oriented issues and problems within vocational dance education, which are usually only discussed in the context of individual institutions.
2019-2024
Remote collaborations between specialists in Ireland, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, United States and Mexico
The first collaboration of Diehl, Ribbers, and Roche was experienced as a vibrant and critical exchange and created a desire to strengthen and expand the connection further. Dr Heike Salzer, Cara Hagan and Dr Rocio Luna Urdaibay then joined the group. Coming from different geographical backgrounds (Ireland, United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands, United States and Mexico), they met online for several years.​ This began with meetings where each member gave a positioning presentation on their educational context and practice, followed by meetings to explore common ground on how to promote educational reform in dance at tertiary level (BA, MA, MFA, PhD).
September 2024
Harvest Meeting at the University of Roehampton
Their shared interest and expertise in embodied practice, education and research, and the potential of embodied solutions for the much-desired reform of dance education at tertiary level, led to the creation of the DEED network. To collect, evaluate and disseminate the results of their online meetings and research, the network met for a first in-person harvest meeting at the University of Roehampton in September 2024 (made possible by The Southlands Methodist Trust and the Centre for Research in Arts and Creative Exchange, University of Roehampton).
September 2025
DEED Website Launch
This website is an outcome of the DEED Harvest Meeting.
The DEED network is committed to extending its research.