Betsy Blair | Dance
North Carolinian Betsy Blair has been active in the field of dance education as a performer, choreographer, teacher, and curriculum planner. In these roles, she has contributed creative work and performances through many organizations--including the Durham Arts Council School, Arts Together in Raleigh, The Frog Hollow Show (WRAL-TV), Carolina Friends School, and Creative Arts Program in the Schools. Her honors in the field of dance education include The Raleigh Medal of Arts from the City of Raleigh and the Beverly & Laramie Hitchings Award for Service to the Art of Dance from the Durham Arts Council. Over her career, she has also been the recipient of numerous arts grants, including Wake County Grassroots Program, Emerging Artist Program from the Durham Arts Council, and Creative Arts Grants from the North Carolina Arts Council.
Regionally, within the last five years, Betsy has led week long, full day workshops for children incorporating creative dance, art, and nature learning through the Carolina Friends School Summer Program. She has also assisted Annie Dwyer in school year classes for Middle School dancers at the Carolina Friends School and has presented teacher training workshops in children's dance for Arts Together in Raleigh. Another recent interest has been developing college level workshops in Concepts of Space based in Laban/Wigman/Joos modern dance theories for dancers and actors. She has done workshops for Duke Dance and has guided this aspect of a theater student's independent study project
for the Dramatic Art Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Nationally, in February, 2010, Betsy was a presenter in the Our Places Tell Stories Conference for environmental educators in Springs Preserve in Las Vegas, Nevada, and in October, 2010, in Tempe, Arizona, Betsy was a presenter at the annual conference of the National Dance Education Organization, where she linked dance education for children with nature learning, specifically related to learning about the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts. The NDEO has positively endorsed her books.
Some of her teachers in the German-American lineage of modern dance have been Isa Partsh-Bergsohn (Wigman and Jooss), John Wilson (of Tucson, Arizona, arthrometric analysis and generic dance technique), Lee Connor (Laban-based improv and technique), Peggy Hackney (Effort-Shape), Murray Louis and Jerri and Sarah Pearson (improvisation and composition), and Hanya Holm (technique, improvisation, and composition). Along the way she earned graduate degrees in design and dance.
Regionally, within the last five years, Betsy has led week long, full day workshops for children incorporating creative dance, art, and nature learning through the Carolina Friends School Summer Program. She has also assisted Annie Dwyer in school year classes for Middle School dancers at the Carolina Friends School and has presented teacher training workshops in children's dance for Arts Together in Raleigh. Another recent interest has been developing college level workshops in Concepts of Space based in Laban/Wigman/Joos modern dance theories for dancers and actors. She has done workshops for Duke Dance and has guided this aspect of a theater student's independent study project
for the Dramatic Art Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Nationally, in February, 2010, Betsy was a presenter in the Our Places Tell Stories Conference for environmental educators in Springs Preserve in Las Vegas, Nevada, and in October, 2010, in Tempe, Arizona, Betsy was a presenter at the annual conference of the National Dance Education Organization, where she linked dance education for children with nature learning, specifically related to learning about the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts. The NDEO has positively endorsed her books.
Some of her teachers in the German-American lineage of modern dance have been Isa Partsh-Bergsohn (Wigman and Jooss), John Wilson (of Tucson, Arizona, arthrometric analysis and generic dance technique), Lee Connor (Laban-based improv and technique), Peggy Hackney (Effort-Shape), Murray Louis and Jerri and Sarah Pearson (improvisation and composition), and Hanya Holm (technique, improvisation, and composition). Along the way she earned graduate degrees in design and dance.
yB Dance Materials
Betsy Blair has developed yB dance booklets for teachers in the fields of creative movement and dance education. This unique multi-arts product includes text, music, illustrations, and digital audio/visual elements. The goal of each yB dance booklet is to help bring developmentally sound creative dance ideas into the classroom in fun, practical, and aesthetically pleasing ways.
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Dance Songs for Young Children - $38
for ages 5-7, K-2nd Includes text, CD, and DVD 
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Down the Road Dances: Level 1 - $48
for ages 10-12, early Middle School Includes text, CD, and DVD 
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Books are for sale directly from Betsy Blair and in the following stores:
- American Dance Festival School Store at Duke University, Durham, NC (during June and July)