Jochelle Pereña & Sam Stone – Dance Education in Practice
Luna’s hiring!
Are you passionate about creativity? Do you thrive in a collaborative, grassroots environment where everyone pulls together to create change? If you seek to apply your skills in service of social justice through the art of dance, Luna Dance & Creativity might be the place for you!
Luna seeks to hire an experienced Dance Teaching Artist to teach in our Early Childhood and Studio Lab programs (for kids 3-17). In-person teaching will take place in Oakland early learning centers, local parks and libraries, and in Luna’s Berkeley studio. This position is appropriate for a dance artist interested in working collaboratively with classroom teachers and instructional aides in a coaching capacity, as well as bring creative rigor to their studio teaching practice.
Discover more here!
Episode 5: What are the possibilities for California dance education now?
With a newly-reinstated dance teaching credential and secured state funding for the arts in schools, it’s an exciting moment for California dance education right now. Tune in for this two-part episode as we speak with California dance teaching artists Gaby Mendoza and Carol Kueffer about how they view the new possibilities in dance education. Recorded June 6, 2025.
In Part 1, we give a little background. Gaby and Carol share their pathways to teaching dance in schools, before the reinstatement of the credential, and describe the teaching artist communities that kept them learning and kept them creative.
Part 2 dives into how the credential and Arts and Music in Schools Funding have impacted the dance education ecosystem, and a vision for what’s next.
With guests:

Gaby Mendoza
bio coming soon

Carol Kueffer
Carol Kueffer is a dance educator with Oakland Unified School District. She received her MFA in Dance from New York University. Her teaching is student-centered and she creates learning environments that celebrate our collective humanity where creativity and rigorous physicality flourish. Her choreography has been presented throughout New York, the SF Bay Area and Brazil. Carol was a founding member of the New York based company, David Dorfman Dance, touring internationally for eleven years. Her dance films with Dylan Moore can be viewed on Instagram @dylanedwardmoore. Website: carolkueffer.com
Dance teaching opportunities in the community
Many of our colleagues in public education and community studios are seeking teaching artists for the 2024-25 school year. Check out postings from:
Oakland Unified School District (search dance)
San Francisco Unified School District
DeAnza High School, Richmond