MOVEMENT EDUCATION
weekly classes at PERIDANCE nYC start april 3rd!
I have been teaching dance for over a decade, getting my start teaching multiple styles at my local dance studio. Throughout college, I learned to develop both my artistic and educational voice. Over my years of study and practice, I discovered my love for improvisation and guided somatics of both sensory and anatomical approaches. Following my 2018 choreography commission on The Joffrey Ballet School NYC Jazz & Contemporary Trainees, I became a master faculty member at Joffrey for several years, teaching all four years of the J&C Trainees in their contemporary and improvisation courses. I have traveled the country teaching at various studios, institutions, and intensives, as well as at Revive and Adrenaline dance conventions.
At a time when class-taking has become a performative skill of its own, I believe in developing a generation of students who understand that it’s also ok to enter the room as they are, in the pursuit of curiosity—not perfection, in the pursuit of joy and pleasure—free of judgment. I often share that in class, I care much more about how you feel than how you look. And still, through guided improvisation and the sharing of choreography, I encourage students to empower themselves with the mental and physical autonomy to engage with effort, vigor, curiosity, and passion. I see class as a place to grow in every capacity. A time to focus internally on our thoughts, activate our bodies on micro and macro levels, engage in questions and conversation, and dance our hearts out!
Photography by Hannah Mayfield
CONTEMPORARY FORMS AND IMPROVISATIONAL RESEARCH CLASS STRUCTURE
In class, dancers can expect to deepen their thinking just as much as their sensitivity. We will begin with a guided improvisation with roots in somatics and anatomy built to help focus our thoughts, heighten our sensations, and broaden our physical potentials for movement. We will wrap up this improvisation with a brief conversation and reflection, giving us a chance to verbalize our physical experience. This moment of discussion is not only designed to inform my practice as an educator, but offer a chance for dancers to share what they would otherwise leave unexpressed. Perhaps releasing an undeveloped thought allows fellow dancers to empathize, express their own thoughts, and even shift the energy and sense of community of the space.
Next, we will continue into a movement phrase based in various contemporary techniques that not only incorporates ideas from our guided improvisation, but correlates our daily human selves to who we are in a dance space. We will explore the spectrum of our strengths and weaknesses, our range of textures and qualities, and surprise our own expectations. Practicing patience, listening, and belief in our imagination, let’s dance!