Beginning in fall 2026, the UW–Madison Dance Department will launch a new Dance Education minor designed to expand access to dance in Wisconsin’s public schools and help rebuild a statewide pipeline of licensed dance teachers.
When paired with an existing teacher education major, the minor provides a pathway to teacher licensure in dance. It complements the existing Dance Education certificate — launched in 2024 — which will remain available for students not pursuing licensure.
When Arnhold Director of Dance Education Chell Parkins joined UW–Madison in 2022, restoring dance to public schools and reestablishing a teacher licensing pathway was central to her vision. Although several Wisconsin institutions once offered dance teacher licensure, those programs have since disappeared. “There were no dance teacher licensing programs in the state when I took my position,” Parkins notes.
With limited statewide job opportunities for licensed dance teachers outside of Milwaukee, Parkins set out to assess the need more directly.
“I conducted a statewide survey and presented the results at several events,” she says. “I found high demand for dance, but the opportunities were not equitable.” She notes that many districts offer dance only through after-school programs, which can create barriers due to fees, transportation, and scheduling. These programs are also frequently staffed by individuals without dance teaching credentials — or, in some cases, without formal dance training at all.
These findings helped shape UW Dance Exchange, an initiative that brings trained teaching artists, paired with UW–Madison dance education students, into public schools. This semester, the program is active in six public schools and two community centers, with growing interest from the Madison Metropolitan School District.
With mounting evidence of the need for high-quality, standards-aligned dance instruction, Parkins collaborated with Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and university partners to develop a licensure route embedded in UW–Madison’s existing teacher preparation programs.
The new Dance Education minor is structured as a dual-license option. Students pursuing majors in Elementary Education, Elementary Education/Special Education, Special Education, Physical Education, and Art Education can add dance as a second license by completing the required five-course sequence, which blends theory, choreography, and applied teaching practice.
Though the program officially launches this fall, interest is already strong. Three elementary education students were approved to enroll immediately after the pathway was finalized.
One of those students, Sabrina Bonine, will graduate this spring with a dual license in dance and elementary education. She hopes to secure a position that allows her to teach dance within a public-school setting and says the licensure pathway has opened up opportunities and strengthened her teaching practice.
“Having the licensing option allows me to more easily advocate for my place in a public-school system,” she says. “I love all of the hands-on opportunities the program provides to work with and teach students in the community. I think that my teaching practices have grown immensely from the opportunities I have had within the program to work with students in the Madison area.”
Between the Dance Education certificate and the new minor, 17 students have declared — including eight minors and nine certificates — and several more are considering it.
Looking ahead, Parkins envisions expanding dance education offerings even further, potentially including a dedicated major or graduate program.
“My hope is to bring dance back into public schools with rich, informed teaching,” she says. “Our students study human development and diverse dance forms. These offerings benefit both our students and public-school children across Wisconsin.”