Press & News

Dance Teacher Magazine Since New York City Ballet principal dancer Jacques d’Amboise founded National Dance Institute in 1976, the nonprofit arts education organization has championed a simple yet profound truth: Early exposure to the arts can transform a child’s life. Grounded in its renowned teaching pedagogy, NDI has impacted millions of school children—in New York City and across the world—through its rigorous, joyful, and inclusive arts programming. With NDI, students develop self-confidence, a lifelong passion for learning, and an understanding that with dedication and hard work, they can achieve their goals. NDI’s not-so-secret secret to success is not only the content of its arts programs but the delivery itself. Since 2019, the NDI Collaborative for Teaching & Learning has equipped arts educators around the world with its codified NDI Method, designed to engage students of all ages, backgrounds, and ability levels. Always in partnership with live musical accompaniment, the NDI Method [...]

Dance Informa Magazine By Kathryn Boland Picture this: a dance studio full of children moving and creating. You may not have expected it, but some of them are using wheelchairs and other assistive devices. Led by a skilled teaching artist, all of these children work together – regardless of ability or disability. Such a scene is only the norm within National Dance Institute (NDI)’s DREAM Project: “Dancers Realize Excellence Through Arts and Movement.” The program pairs disabled and non-disabled students in order to build friendships, promote artistry, foster the skill of collaboration, spark empathy and much more. Such work expands NDI’s mission of inclusive, far-reaching dance education, shining the light of its Founder Jacques d’Amboise through subsequent generations of artists. Dr. Agnes McConlogue Ferro and Kay Gayner. Photo by Jackie Mihaley. Co-founded by NDI Artistic Director Kay Gayner and Pediatric Physical Therapist Dr. Agnes McConlogue Ferro, the program is now in its [...]

It takes two to tango so naturally Jermaine Jones met his wife while they were both teenagers enrolled at the National Dance Institute (NDI). Along the way, he developed another lifelong love: the program itself. But his grandparents feared dance was not a financially viable career. So Jones pursued safer avenues but remained involved with the organization. Decades later, he now serves as NDI’s Executive Director, appointed almost exactly a year ago.

News 12 | Mar 11, 2024 | By News 12 Staff Dancers with the National Dance Institutes' Dream Project were ready to get to work ahead of their 10th annual performance. The program is part of the curriculum of 50 schools throughout New York City – giving dancers of all abilities a stage to strut their stuff. News 12’s Jordan Kissane went behind-the-scenes during a rehearsal and spoke with Dream Project co-creator Dr. Agnes McConlogue Ferro. "We know that magic is in inclusion. The magic is in dance. And we saw this firsthand with the children who were our very first participants. Some of whom are still with us and some who are not,” she said. Learn more about the Dream Project at the National Dance Institute website. See News 12's story with video here.

CBS News By Jessi Mitchell NEW YORK - An adaptive workshop in Harlem is uniting different types of dancers for a totally unique experience. The nonprofit National Dance Institute trains the community's children through scholarships and in-school programs, touching two million lives since its inception in 1976. Perhaps the most impactful part of its mission is the DREAM Project. "If you have a body and you want to dance, you are welcome here," said Kay Gayner, NDI artistic director and co-founder of the DREAM Project. The weeklong adaptive dance workshop celebrated its tenth anniversary with a special alumni reunion recital. Pediatric physical therapist and DREAM Project co-director Dr. Agnes McConlogue Ferro, along with workshop instructors, introduce differently-abled dancers to the Institute's scholars in a style described as "individualized inclusion." "They're performing the same dance, but there may be what we call translations for each partnership, depending on whatever their specific [...]

The 10th Anniversary of the NDI DREAM Project (Dancers Realize Excellence through Arts and Movement) was held last February 21st-23rd. It took place at the National Dance Institute at Jacques d’Amboise Center for Learning & the Arts at 217 West 147th Street.