Photo by William Frederking
Teaching, like dance, is an intellectual, physical and visceral endeavor. While teaching dance asks that I rigorously maintain domain knowledge, it also asks that I improvise with a nuanced sensitivity for the moment-to-moment needs of my students. I strive to bring both a passion for dance and learning into my classroom. My most influential teachers captivated me through the passion they carried into the studio and on stage, and they made clear that unexpected opportunities for learning can emerge at any moment and in any place. In my own teaching, I work to cultivate respectful and engaged personal dynamics, clarity of vision, a thorough understanding of the field, and adaptability. I am convinced this is how an instructor provides a meaningful learning experience—in class, in performance, and in life.
I ask my students to be open, actively engaged, curious and to release expectations. One of my ongoing challenges as a teacher is balancing knowledge acquisition with the development of critical thinking in an age of abundant information. My students learn to recognize their capacity to navigate new terrain and, in doing so, discover their own power and individuality. Dance and performance research involves a collision of thought, skill, curiosity, intuition, and risk. These are the values I seek in an arts-based academic program and the ones I employ in my work as an administrator, educator, and artist. Effective teaching, administration, and collaboration require not only rigorous organization and structure but also the ability to improvise in response to new challenges.
