Teaching Statement
The practice of dance gives us an awareness of our bodies that is unlike any other art form. We must understand ourselves and how our bodies work before we can execute any movement properly.
My classes emphasize the understanding of our muscles, bones, and organs and the way they connect before we move into movement quality. While understanding the way our bodies move prevents dancers from injury. For example, something I primarily see is forced turnout, which is forcing your feet and knees to turn more than they physically can based on the way your body was created, which is incredibly damaging for dancers’ knees longevity wise. By having the dancers understand that their turnout originates from their hip allowing it to only go so far, and why helps prevent the injury of a dancer or the lack of being able to perform for years to come.
While talking about these ideas, I also like to emphasize the definitions of terms because that alone can also help us understand what exactly we are doing and why. For example, the word Tendu means to stretch. When doing a tendu, that's exactly what you are doing, stretching your foot. This helps my students understand in a different way than me just telling them “This is how you do it.” They can also take these skills outside of my classroom and have the knowledge of the definition of terms in dance!
The teacher's attention to the body, terminology and love of the art form can help longeviate the students' dance career. I've always loved to dance and express that through teaching. Teaching has provided me with an even bigger love and understanding of myself and the art form.
Artistic Statement
Ground breaking choreography pushes barriers and challenges societal normalities within dance. In order to step away from what is expected from choreography, you have to be willing to take the first step towards progression. My choreography tends to defy modern rules of what can be completed by the human body. I use my wealth of knowledge of the human anatomical system to curate movements that extend the mind body connection; the pairing of anatomy with choreography sets my style apart from others. By initiating movement through various joints and specific muscles rather than moving through space the dancers begin to truly tune into their bodies which shows in their performances. The layers in the music curated by the different instruments and rhythmic patterns to my chosen songs guide my movements by providing layers upon layers for the dancers to lean upon, but to also revolt against. In my choreographic style, each instrument serves a purpose of its own. While one dancer may cling to the back beat of a drum, the other may fall into the contrary and avoid the beat by blatantly going off beat. Pushing boundaries in dance is how not only the dancers evolve, but also the dance community as a whole.