Three main pillars shape my pedagogical practice: creativity, care, and community. Whether I am working with young children in the school system, pre-professional dancers, or homebound older adults, these tenets shape the way my pedagogy fosters autonomy and recognizes the dancer as human. 

 

My approach to teaching dance is heavily reliant on fostering a student-centered approach to creativity. Inspired by the way I have seen young children thrive in creative movement classes, my contemporary and modern technique classes utilize tactics like choice making, improvisation, and manipulating phrase work. I recognize how giving agency to students to make their own creative decisions fosters skills beyond technical development. Creativity in class cultivates imagination and play at all ages, while promoting critical thinking and problem solving skills. Asking students to make choices reflects my utilization of critical and feminist pedagogies to challenge power hierarchies in the classroom. Placing value on my students’ voice and choice allows them to be catalysts for their own learning. This helps me to continually grow and adapt my pedagogical choices to reflect on and respond to the knowledge my students bring to class. Witnessing the choices my students make also allows me to get to know them better as people. 

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By recognizing that my students are humans before dancers, I approach each class I teach with care. I aim to shift the mindset that was enforced in my dance environments growing up- that as dancers we leave our problems at the door to meet the demands of rigor and professionalism. I encourage dancers to utilize what makes them human to aid in the learning process, and I believe rigor and professionalism can be met with care to create healthy classroom environments. I do not separate my own experience as a dancer from the way I teach, and as someone who was often made to feel like my body type was not welcome in dance spaces, I am cognizant of the way dance experiences shape senses of identity and belonging. Through my teaching, I provide students with a toolkit of how they can apply movement in a way that feels comfortable on their own bodies. With a somatic and anatomical understanding of movement, and by limiting the amount of time spent facing the mirror, I provide students with movement mechanics and guided sensations, so they can experiment with the ways movement lives on their own bodies. Rather than encouraging students to replicate what they see and look exactly like others, I promote a space where students can be in charge of their choices. Going beyond the way applying movement to bodies shapes identity, I am inspired by theories of culturally relevant teaching and teaching in a way that appeals to different learning styles to make my classes inclusive and accessible. As dancers, we must recognize that the body is a carrier of our personal histories and experiences, which is why I strive to humanize the way my students experience dance class. 

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When students feel they can bring their whole selves into dance class, this can create a strong sense of community. In my classes, I promote a non-competitive and connected community. This starts at the beginning of my semester by building a list of community guidelines with the group I am working with that we all contribute to- I do this with children, young adults, and pre-professional track dancers. I also utilize peer feedback and a collaborative approach to applying corrections and setting goals. In my classes for middle school students through college aged students, I often have dancers work together when executing a combination to watch each other and discuss their goals, successes, and what they saw in each others’ dancing. With my youngest elementary school students I utilize a pair-and-share model for reflection and always introduce dance making in creative movement classes through the lens of collaboration. This builds intrapersonal skills and creates moments where students can exist in dialogue as opposed to monologue to synthesize information as they move through class. I also promote a sense of community through utilizing non-hierarchical formations in class. I often have students dance in a circle or facing a partner. Lately, when I have worked on Zoom with young children and homebound older adults I have focused on how technology can be a connector through movement activities that emphasize mirroring and call and response. By creating opportunities for students to see and acknowledge those they are dancing with, physicality becomes an avenue for conversation and learning about one another. This sense of community is essential in making students feel safe to express themselves fully artistically and safe to explore. 

 

Each tenet of creativity, care, and community is an attempt to meet my following main goals as an educator. Through my teaching I aim to: 

• Create a space where students feel valued and seen

• Empower students to self-motivate and think autonomously 

• Encourage students to be in control of their own bodies and choices

• Prepare students to think critically about movement and problem solve

• Utilize dance as a vehicle for communication and connection

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Within the pillars of my teaching philosophy and my goals exists an essential through line: curiosity. I remain curious as a teacher, and my passion for teaching stems from my love for learning. Through teaching I am truly able to remain a lifelong learner. I believe I learn just as much, if not more, from my students than they do from me. With this mindset I position myself as a guide to help students discover their own curiosities and creative voices. When my students find their artistic voice, it re-ignites my passion for dance. Underpinning my classes with creativity, care, and community allows my students to find autonomy in their movements and their choices, giving them tools they need to continue to hone their sparks and brilliance and remain curious after our class time together has ended. Witnessing my students approach their work and lives with this creative curiosity gives me hope for the future of dance. 

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