Teaching Artist

Pedagogy Statement

My primary focus in educating new and emerging artists is to promote self-agency, efficacy, and advocacy, while understanding one’s own perspective and intersectionality as a tool for creation. I teach that Western techniques and somatics can inform one's work without dictating it or erasing an artist’s identity. As the Theatre and Dance Industries change, becoming inclusive of all human experiences, it is our job, as educators, to put this into practice.

An artists' intersectionality is one of their many "superpowers" in developing their identity as a creator. Therefore, holding on to the Western teachings of the past as the only "formal" or "classical" training, strips students' knowledge and technique down to a singular, colonizer-centric education. These practices are harmful to those who are classically trained in Eastern, Middle Eastern, African, Latin and Indigenous styles, invalidating their craft. This also limits the students of Western techniques in their understanding of the artform as a global practice.

Integrating women's history/issues, LGBTQIA2S+ history/issues, disabled people's history/issues, religious and spiritual group history/issues, and people of the Global Majority's history/issues into my pedagogy, students discover, claim and adapt their voice and perspective more effectively.

I have taught and/or choreographed students ages 5 to 60, beginning with discussions on Consent and Boundaries, as well as self-care be it mental, emotional or physical. Many of my warmups and combinations are Bartenieff and Laban derived, as my teaching philosophy is heavily based in sustainable and health conscious practices. As I always say, "you have one body, if you care for it, it will care for you." Similarly, I am firmly rooted in the belief that strength, passion and musicality will serve you far longer than tricks, flash, and restrictive nutrition consumption; all bodies can dance, no matter the shape, size or ability.

In my classroom and/or rehearsal space, the use of improvisation and collaboration are utilized regularly. By maintaining communication with one's own body (improvisation) and peers (collaboration), these spaces hold a greater potential for exploration. Often, tapping into the body's natural flow and instincts, an artist will discover the direction of their creative work. Because of this, improvisation is a fundamental element of dancers' education and training. Additionally, in collaborative work, a dancer learns to communicate and hear ideas and critique, rather than seeing the work as a competition to be won.

I firmly believe it is essential for dancers and choreographers to have an academic understanding of the history of dance and how to speak about dance. In leading group discussions about readings, I ask students to look through various lenses as they read: a dancer's lens, a choreographer's lens, the audience lens (both then and now), and a historian's lens. "What does this pioneer's technique require the dancer to focus on, what movement energies are primary? secondary?" "How might a choreographer reference this artist's style in their own piece?" "Does this choreographer require the audience to adopt a narrative? If so, how would their thematic influence be perceived when they were working? Now?" These guided discussions give students an opportunity to think critically, practice speaking with a dance lexicon, and utilize Liz Lerman's Critical Response Process, before taking composition and/or choreography classes.

As a queer, femme non-binary educator, I strive to change any narrative or practice of Dance and Theatre being gatekept, elitist, socially irrelevant, and non-inclusive by way of reconfiguring the "standard" to be rooted in respect, diversity, discussion and cultural knowledge.