Teaching Philosophy

From creative movement to history and philosophy in dance, from intimate studio spaces to large lecture halls, I customize my approach based on the population, environment, situation and circumstances. However, I believe there are elements common to everyone and every situation that lie at the heart of my pedagogical approach. I believe that dance training should start broad encompassing many global forms, styles, and learning approaches. As a student hones their interest and passion for dance, their training should become more focused and specific to both the individual and the form.

No matter what style of dance I am teaching, efficiency in movement through sound somatic principles is always at the core of my philosophy. I make every effort to create a safe environment where students can develop new skills and delve deeply into new ways of moving, thinking, and feeling. My main role is to help students in facilitating new neural and muscular pathways to actualize choreography in an efficient, individualized, and safe manner while fostering an enthusiasm and joy around movement. I believe that there must be a conceptual component when learning material and that the conceptual component should be carried throughout the entire class. One way I keep students involved physically and intellectually is by allowing students to find their own answers to questions I pose around phrasing, movement quality, or problem-solving around a specific movement concept. While facilitating active thought, curiousity, and imagination about their own body, students often find their own artistic voices and an ability to seamlessly work with both improvised and choreographic phrase work. Ideally, they traverse between moments of movement specificity, technical rigor, and connectivity to one’s truest self with full abandon.

Through my intense study in Classical Ballet, Contemporary dance (Release, Limon, and Cunningham technique), Contact improvisation, Bartenieff fundamentals, Pilates, BMC, and Alexander technique, I have found that an understanding of how the anatomical body works can both inform new movement possibilities and also help prevent injury. With this information available to us, I believe we can trust the body as a responsive and intelligent instrument with the ability to share information through the body. I specialize in contemporary dance and contact improvisation but also teach ballet, jazz, dance history, creative movement for children, and Pilates. Through this work, I strive to connect my students to an awareness of their bodies, each other, and the world around them. Skills in communication and observation are refined through this awareness that can be applied to their evolution as both a mover and a human being. 

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I have had the privilege of teaching at Slippery Rock University, Chatham University, Naropa University and CU Boulder. I have recently had the honor of being awarded the Graduate Excellence in Teaching Award at CU Boulder.