UW–Madison’s Chell Parkins was featured in the Wisconsin State Journal’s “Know Your Madisonian” series recently. In the Q&A, she discusses her work these past two years, since she made Madison her home and began her role as the inaugural Arnhold Director of Dance Education in the School of Education’s Dance Department.

Parkins, the article notes, is working to get more dance education into the state’s school systems and train the next generation of dance teachers. She spends her days teaching and mentoring others as well as working with local schools and advocating for the arts.

A focus of Parkins’ efforts has been starting a dance education certificate program at UW–Madison, offering students the chance to take courses and earn a credential focused specifically on dance education.

The certificate program was approved this spring and will be available to students in the next school year.

“Dance education is more than teaching dance,” Parkins says. “Dance develops children’s critical thinking, social emotional learning, body awareness.”

In the Q&A with the State Journal, Parkins also shares how she came to focus her work on dance education, places around the world that have been impactful for her, and her impressions of the dance scene in Madison.

Learn more about Parkins by checking out the full article at madison.com.