What happens when dance educators lead with imagination, generosity, and possibility? Magic.
 
Artistic Abundance: Making Magic Happen celebrates the vibrant energy that emerges when creativity is shared, nurtured, and multiplied across our dance communities. This theme invites educators, artists, and advocates to explore how an abundance mindset—one rooted in curiosity, collaboration, and bold artistic exploration—can transform our classrooms, studios, and stages.
 
Across New York State, dance educators are cultivating powerful spaces where students discover their voices, take creative risks, and experience the joy of movement. When we come together to exchange ideas, challenge conventions, and support one another’s visions, something extraordinary happens: creativity expands, innovation thrives, and collective magic takes shape.
 
Dance educators know how to create something extraordinary out of very little. In schools and communities across the state, teachers often work with limited time, space, and resources.  Despite this, we build vibrant programs, choreograph meaningful performances, and inspire young artists. Through ingenuity, passion, and dedication, we transform limitations into possibilities and prove that creativity does not depend on abundance of materials, but on abundance of imagination.
 
This conference celebrates that spirit of resourcefulness and collaboration while highlighting inspiring teaching practices, imaginative choreographic processes, inclusive and equitable approaches to dance education, and collaborations that help our field flourish. Through movement experiences, dynamic conversations, and shared learning, participants will explore how we can spark inspiration, amplify creativity, and continue building thriving dance communities.
 
Together, we will celebrate the power of dance education to ignite imagination, fuel artistic growth, and create moments of opportunity—reminding us that when we embrace artistic abundance, we truly can make magic happen.

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GUIDING QUESTIONS

Proposals should consider one or more of the following questions:

• How are dance educators across Pre K - 12 schools, dance studios, performing arts organizations, community groups, and higher education institutions cultivating a mindset of artistic abundance in their teaching, creative practice, and leadership?

• What practices spark creativity, imaginative risk-taking, and artistic voice in dancers of all ages and abilities?

• In what ways are dance educators creating meaningful artistic experiences and high-quality learning opportunities, even with limited time, space, or resources?

• How can collaboration between artists, educators, organizations, and communities create “collective magic” and expand creativity, innovation, and collective impact in dance spaces?

• What teaching strategies inspire students and dancers to discover their voices, take creative risks, and experience the joy of movement?

• How do dance educators design inclusive, equitable, and welcoming spaces where all dancers feel empowered to participate, create, and thrive?

• How do we sustain joy, inspiration, and creative vitality in our teaching and choreography across diverse learning environments?​

• How can dance educators elevate the field by bridging the gap across sectors?