The Alternate Route training program offers classes in dance therapy approved by the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA) and has been created with the 92nd Street Y Harknesss Centre. It is designed for dancers and health professionals who want to obtain the professional accreditation of Registered Dance/Movement Therapist, by the ADTA.
A unique program in Canada, it offers ADTA-approved dance therapy courses developed in partnership with the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Centre. Selected students will take 270 hours of classes taught by American and Canadian dance therapists recognized as pioneers in the field.
It is important to note that completing the Alternate Route won’t result immediately in the certification. Together with other criteria, this program allows to replace a master’s in dance therapy, not yet available in Canada.
The ADTA Dance/Movement Therapy Certification Board (DMTCB) delivers the Registered Dance/Movement Therapist (R-DMT) accreditation. To obtain this, you need to complete a master’s degree in dance therapy. Since this is currently unavailable in Canada, another option is to gather the following:
The Alternate Route is a private program equivalent to 27 master’s credits in dance therapy, for a total of 405 hours:
Training dates – current cohort:
2025 - June 16 to July 4
2026 - June 16 to July 4
2027 - June 15 to July 3
These dates are subject to change
Course content – 2026 session:
This course focuses in detail on the principles, techniques and methods of DMT with emphasis on the roots of dance as therapy in various forms of dance, and especially on experiential work by students in leading DMT sessions in a positive, inclusive, and equitable learning environment. Movement experiences are derived from the abstraction of basic DMT processes. Recent discoveries in neuroscience will be included in relation to elements of DMT methods, and the use of Experiential Focusing in DMT will be introduced.
This course will support each student's learning and understanding of the professional dance/movement therapist's leadership responsibilities with both small and large groups. A focus will be on deepening skills as they structure group cultures relative to treatment goals within specific facilities and with a demonstration of group dynamics in movement. Each student will develop proficiency in leadership of dance/movement therapy sessions. Each student will demonstrate an understanding of group session goals and structures.
Students will continue to develop their movement vocabulary, including embodying a variety of movement practices, understanding the components through the lens of the Laban Bartenieff Movement System (LBMS) and related systems, and observing examples of individual, dyadic, small group, and intracultural events. Students will observe the use of movement analysis in clinical and other settings. Students will be introduced to a number of assessment tools, and a variety of populations that dance/movement therapists work with, including children with learning or attachment issues, seniors with dementia, somatic challenges (Parkinson’s, MS, etc.).
Our admission criteria are based on those of the closest organization delivering accreditation: the Dance/Movement Therapy Certification Board (DMTCB) of the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA). These criteria are very similar to those of other international organizations.
We suggest that all those interested in the program consult the R-DMT Applicant Handbook.
*What is the required dance experience?
More than 5 years of dance experience can be acquired by completing a professional, university, or college program. It can also be obtained through cumulative participation in intensive workshops, master classes, or ongoing technical maintenance in intermediate and advanced level classes. This type of experience ensures an understanding of movement anatomy and technical expertise. In addition, mastery of two dance styles is essential. It guarantees a thorough technique, a varied vocabulary, and a sufficient movement repertoire to creatively adapt dance and movement interventions to the specific needs of participants. Finally, dance teaching experience is highly recommended and is a valuable asset for enriching the pedagogical aspects of dance therapy practice.
The next auditions are scheduled for fall 2027. Candidates will be required to meet the admission criteria at the audition.
One-time administration fees:
330$ plus taxes (file opening, non-refundable)
Annual tuition fees (2025–2027 cohort):
Quebec residents - $2150 plus taxes
Canadian students - $2520 plus taxes
International students - $2890 plus taxes
Zuzana Ševčíková is a board certified dance/movement therapist and drama therapist who holds degrees in physiotherapy and contemporary dance from the Czech Republic, her country of origin, and a Master's degree in drama therapy from Concordia University, Montreal. Zuzana also graduated from the Developmental Transformations Institute, Montreal, and is one of the first graduates of the dance therapy Alternate Route training program at the 92Y Harkness Dance Centre, New York City.
She is a co-founding member and a past President of Dance/Movement Therapy Association in Canada and a co-founding member and a board member of the Quebec Alliance of Creative Arts Therapists.
She works in elementary schools of the Lester B. Pearson school board in Montreal and works with people with Parkinson’s disease at Parkinson en movement.
Tania worked as a psychiatrist and as a psychotherapist in Ukraine for more than 10 years prior her arrival to Canada. She has a doctorate degree in Psychiatry and has completed the Alternate Route training in Dance/Movement Therapy offered by the NCDT. She was Scholar-in-Residence (2019-2021) and she is a part-time faculty in the Department of Creative Arts Therapies at Concordia University. Tania teaches dance classes as well as dance therapy groups at Parkinson in movement and offers the dance therapy sessions with the NCDT. She is a cofounder of the Dance/Movement Therapy Association in Canada.
Brigitte Lachance holds a research-based Master’s degree in Rehabilitation from the École de réadaptation de la Faculté de médecine (UdeM), as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from UQAM. She worked for over 20 years as a physiotherapist with individuals living with physical disabilities.
Her studies at the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies in New York were pivotal in the original development of the dance therapy program for individuals with physical disabilities, launched in 2006 and now integrated into the CIUSSS Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal.
As a guest speaker at the National Centre for Dance Therapy and at several universities, she continues her work as a Registered Dance/Movement Therapist (ADTA) with the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay.
Christine’s enthusiasm for the connection between dance, health and care finds its source in the combination of a first career in dance education for nearly twenty years and a second one in psychiatric occupational therapy. She completed the alternate route Dance therapy training of Les Grands Ballets canadiens in 2024. She now works as a dance therapist with people with Parkinson’s disease.
Karen Bradley was an Associate Professor of Dance and Director of Graduate Studies in Dance at the University of Maryland. She is a Certified Movement Analyst in Laban Movement Analysis and serves on the board of the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies in New York City.
Her work bridges dance, movement analysis, and education. She has applied movement analysis in diverse contexts, including dance/movement therapy, work with learning-disabled children, arts education research and policy, and coaching politicians and business leaders. She is the author of Rudolf Laban (Routledge) and has published extensively on dance education, learning theory, and movement-based approaches to understanding how people learn.
Bradley has also choreographed, written, and directed for theatre in the Baltimore and Washington, DC areas, and contributes regularly to media discussions on body language and political communication, including appearances in major outlets such as The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and CNN.
Her recent research includes interdisciplinary projects on dance and cognition, notably “Your Brain on Dance,” as well as collaborative initiatives exploring digital tools for movement and meaning. She has also played a key role in developing national dance education standards and advancing research on the impact of dance on children’s learning.
As an international public speaker and consultant, she shifts mindsets and strips away bias to increase resilience, inclusion, and justice. Farah’s holistic approach fuses the arts, therapeutic techniques, and ethnography to reduce harm while improving self-worth, productivity and purpose with relevance and harmony. She commits to building a diverse community of leaders who are proud to be fearless and flawsome without limiting beliefs, self-doubt, or shame.
For 25 years, she has been using creativity to reveal and resolve barriers to equity; fostering economic, professional, and personal development, while improving belonging and sparking innovation. Her successes include facilitating programs for over 100,000 people, producing and creating over 30 performances, implementing 6 community projects for social change, co-founding the Dance Movement Therapy Association in Canada and Le Groupe Herencias. Farah focuses on identity, respect, vitality, and empathy to decolonize behaviours so we can dare to be audaciously visible and aligned beings.
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