National Dance Association

History & Future

Brief History

The National Dance Association (NDA) was originally established as the section on Dance in 1932 by the American Physical Education Association (APEA), a forerunner to the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (AAHPER). In 1965 the Section on Dance was elevated to Divisional status. In 1974 the National Dance Association became an association of the Alliance and "Dance" was added to AAHPER to become AAHPERD. Since 1992, AAHPERD has been shifting to a more autonomous business model to better meet the approaching challenges of the twenty-first century. In 1998, the NDA Board of Directors reaffirmed its commitment to dance and educators teaching dance within physical education.

The organizational framework includes a network of national, six district, and 50 state officers. NDA supports a membership network of 2,000 individual dance educators, institutional and affiliate members and presently serves as a resource for federal/state agencies and arts/education organizations.

Goals

The goal of the National Dance Association is to promote quality dance programs in the areas of health, physical education, recreation and dance (HPERD) by:

• providing leadership for teachers of dance in the disciplines of HPERD (health, physical education, recreation and dance) so they may better understand, implement, and assess voluntary national Standards in Dance Education, the Opportunity-to-Learn Standards, and assessments in dance;
• developing and disseminating information in dance pedagogy (teaching content, process, and methodology) and the creative process, movement training, performance practices and technology;
• developing and disseminating resources in curriculum and program development, professional development, and teacher preparation
• increasing financial and human resources to enhance strong NDA programs, operating support and services to members
•  initiating and advocating practices that promote healthy lifestyles through dance curriculum, programs and workshops
•  developing and collaborating with other Alliance structures and external partnerships to promote the mission of the National Dance Association.