Congratulations To Our 2018 National Dance Society Award Recipients!

Be it pedagogy, advocacy, or promotion of dance, NDS members make important contributions to the discipline.  NDS is pleased to recognize the following individuals for their contributions to the field of dance.

Dance Legacy Award

The 2018 Dance Legacy Award honoree is Ms. Inez Howard.  This is the National Dance Society’s (NDS) highest award for exemplary, lifetime contributions of national or international significance to dance, dance education, the arts, and NDS. The awardee shall have provided meritorious service to NDS, other dance organizations, dance education, or to the dance field in general.  Read more about Ms. Inez Howard.

P-12 Master Dance Educator of the Year in
Physical Education Award

The 2018 P-12 Master Dance Educator of the Year in Physical Education Award is BJ Santos. This award recognizes excellence of professionals who teach dance within a comprehensive physical education curriculum. The teachers are employed full time at a school or in a school district. Teachers may have responsibility for teaching grades that cross different instructional levels. The teacher must use recommended guidelines for infusing dance instruction in to the annual physical education curriculum.  Read more about BJ Santos.

Dance Scholar Award

The 2018 Dance Scholar Award honoree is Dr. Judy Patterson Wright.  This award recognizes dance educators who have been and are producing scholarly/creative works of significance at the community, state, regional, national, or international levels in dance research, evaluation, professional writing, choreography, or other dance works.  Read more about Dr. Judy Patterson Wright.

Dance Advocate Award 

The 2018 Dance Advocate Award honoree is the Society of State Leaders of Health and Physical Education.  This award provides a way to recognize individuals who are not members of NDS but who, through their work, have contributed significantly to the general purposes of the organization. The award recipient shall have made important contributions to dance, dance education, and NDS from their profession (through, for example: the arts, business, general education, government, medicine, or public health).  Read more about the Society of State Leaders of Health and Physical Education.

Undergraduate Dance Excellence Award

The 2018 Undergraduate Dance Excellence Award honoree is Ms. Ami Crist. ​ ​This award recognizes a dance student at the undergraduate level majoring or minoring in dance or an arts-related field who displays leadership, scholarship, creative activities, or service during his or her college career. ​  Read more about Ms. Ami Crist.