EDUCATION

TEACHING:

As an active educator with a wide array of experience, I provide learners with laboratories to explore how dancing connects us to ourselves, one another, history and the moment through the connective and reflective power of groove. I specialize in jazz and American social dance styles, which are driven by groove, as well as interaction with oneself, the music and fellow dancers, and improvisation. I’m inspired by how these styles bring people alive within and outside of themselves, expressing freedom alongside inner cool while thinking on their feet. By centering embodied groove – a uniquely human capability – in my teaching, I’m creating space for people to experience joyful social connection, danced understanding and appreciation of differences and similarities, and embodied understandings of history and the possibilities of the future. I deeply value dance learning as a means for students to find self and community expression, and to gain abilities to be specific, articulate and creative in the ways they approach the world, helping people cultivate their best selves.

I’m committed to effectively delivering key concepts while encouraging revelry in moving musically, socially and intentionally. I achieve these goals by creating a classroom in which enthusiastic curiosity is the base, visceral movement is the driver, and humor is key. I encourage student development by empowering them to ask questions, provide feedback and explore individuality amidst community in their movement choices. I conduct class with intent focus yet lighthearted humor, which I have found to be successful in fostering an energetic, supportive environment for learners of various backgrounds, interests and abilities. In my classroom, students can comfortably explore territory that is new for them as they progress their knowledge of the world through dance.

While I specialize in sharing my groove, interaction and improvisation-based approach to jazz, I teach several forms of dance and lecture classes as well. I have worked with people of all ages and experience levels in settings as varied as private studios, public education programs and colleges.

For more on previous teaching experiences, see my Curriculum Vitae. For quotes, see these Testimonials. For class descriptions, sample syllabi and teaching video samples, please connect with me. For more about what I’ve been up to recently, check out my social media.

(Presenting at the 2017 National Dance Education Organization Conference)

WRITING & PRESENTING:

I consider writing and presenting about dance to be vital ways to understand its impact. I’m particularly interested in the influence of jazz and American social dance ideas upon education and staged dance. I have been published twice – It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got Musicality (Journal of Dance Education 2015) and Thinking on Our Feet: Improvisation for Individual and Community Expression in Jazz Class (Dance Education in Practice 2019) – and continue to present at conferences, including National Dance Education Organization gatherings, the Texas Dance Improvisation Festival, Danny Buraczeski’s Jazz Dance Teaching conferences and others.

(Presenting at the Texas Dance Improv Festival)

As writing has always been an important creative tool for me, I’ve also kept a private journal practice since 8th grade, and a personal blog since 2008 as a slightly more public place to process and ideate.