page_title: Elizabeth Burchenal
section_title: Mid life
hierarchical_section_title: Elizabeth Burchenal / Mid life
caption_attribution_description: English: New York Central Park 1910 children dancing festival
context_page_description: Flora Elizabeth Burchenal was an American folk dance educator. She was a teacher of dance in the New York state public school system as well as an inspector of athletics for the New York Department of Education. Burchenal influenced the cultural conduct of recreational life in the United States, Canada and Europe.
context_section_description: Burchenal became interested in using dance in physical education and was influenced by the dance educator Melvin Gilbert. She carried his philosophy of dance education to Columbia University. She thought that Gilbert's dance techniques should be taught at the University in their physical training classes.
  Burchenal became a teacher at Teachers College, Columbia University from 1902 to 1905. Here she began her researching of folk dancing not only in the United States, but also the dancing techniques of Canadian and European folk dancers. Beginning in 1904 she traveled around the world gathering folk dance techniques of various countries. 
  Burchenal was next persuaded by the director of New York physical education, Luther Gulick, to become a teacher of dance in the state public school system. In this role she excelled and gained higher levels of authority. She became the executive secretary of the Girl's Branch of the New York Public Schools Athletic League from 1905 to 1916. There she taught teachers folk dancing besides teaching her normal athletics. She then obtain an additional job as the inspector of athletics for the New York Department of Education from 1909 to 1916. She influenced the nation into introducing folk dancing into the public schools' physical education programs throughout the United States. In addition she organized large gatherings for folk dance festivals, one in particular being a celebration at a New York borough park which involved 10,000 schoolgirls.
  In 1913, Lady Aberdeen was so impressed by seeing a group of 2000 Burchenal trained girls folk dancing in a Manhattan public school that she persuaded Burchenal to teach a collection of teachers in Ireland about folk dancing. Before the year was out, Irish national folk dances were a part of the standard physical educational school classes.
  Burchenal did traveling around the United States, Europe, and Canada to not only train teachers the techniques of folk dancing, but also took this traveling opportunity to learn more dances. Often she would take her younger sister who played the piano for the dancing. She influenced the social and cultural conduct of recreational life not only in the United States, but also in Canada and Europe. Burchenal described folk dancing as one of the few times that people of different nationalities and cultures can get together in a common event.
  The passenger list of the ship Minnetonka shows Burchenal traveling from London and arriving in New York City November 12, 1928. At that time she listed her address as 2700 Broadway in New York City. She was traveling with her older sister Ruth.
caption: New York borough park 1910 festival
  with thousands of children folk dancing
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