https://www.jessicazeller.net/blog daily 0.75 2026-07-04 https://www.jessicazeller.net/blog/no-one-cares-on-ballets-deaths-by-irrelevance monthly 0.5 2026-03-19 https://www.jessicazeller.net/blog/doing-the-unthinkable monthly 0.5 2026-03-01 https://www.jessicazeller.net/blog/humanizing-ballet-pedagogies monthly 0.5 2025-01-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/1e5fde25-fd5e-4b22-b11c-26cdecc20fca/AO24-4071-sig-600x100.jpg Blog - Humanizing Ballet Pedagogies - Make it stand out My priority is for this book to be accessible to those interested in reading it. Please connect with me directly if costs are prohibitive. https://www.jessicazeller.net/blog/the-meanings-of-grades monthly 0.5 2023-05-26 https://www.jessicazeller.net/blog/ungrading-another-iteration monthly 0.5 2024-06-24 https://www.jessicazeller.net/blog/fuck-self-care monthly 0.5 2022-04-15 https://www.jessicazeller.net/blog/ungrading-and-pedagogic-ontology-a-love-letter monthly 0.5 2022-09-08 https://www.jessicazeller.net/blog/listening-as-pedagogic-praxis monthly 0.5 2021-06-18 https://www.jessicazeller.net/blog/neither-tiny-nor-pretty monthly 0.5 2023-08-15 https://www.jessicazeller.net/blog/pedagogy-for-end-times monthly 0.5 2024-06-24 https://www.jessicazeller.net/blog/pedagogy-as-protest monthly 0.5 2021-09-26 https://www.jessicazeller.net/connect daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://www.jessicazeller.net/home daily 1.0 2026-07-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/1609444239408-QSNXGTBC8ZA9H6CFTK76/IMG_2342.jpg Home - Jessica Zeller, PhD, MFA, is a Professor of Dance in the TCU School for Classical & Contemporary Dance. She teaches courses in ballet technique and repertoire as well as Dance Studies coursework in Dance histories, theories, pedagogies, and methodologies. Zeller aims to design and teach courses that center humanity, equity, and vitality in the ballet studio and the classroom. In the tradition of Critical Pedagogy, she seeks to balance a critique of unjust systems and hierarchies with the hopeful view that liberatory education is always possible. In the tradition of Feminist Pedagogy, she seeks to honor and acknowledge each individual student; their histories and ways of knowing and being in the world. And in defiance of ballet’s exclusionary traditions, she seeks to make space for each student to find the form in their individual body to their desired end—to overturn ideals for the sake of healthy artistic development and embodied agency. (See Teaching Philosophy and Writings.) https://www.jessicazeller.net/publications daily 0.75 2026-07-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/5cda59c0-b6f7-4981-b38b-34c8c35544de/Cover+-+Final.jpg Publications - New Book: Humanizing Ballet Pedagogies: Philosophies, Perspectives, and Praxis for Teaching Ballet. London: Routledge, 2025. In Humanizing Ballet Pedagogies, Jessica Zeller offers a new take on the ballet pedagogy manual, examining how and why ballet pedagogies develop, considering their implications for students and teachers, and proposing processes by which readers can enact humanizing, equitable approaches. Reviewed in the Journal of Dance Education: A “call-to-action for teachers of all dance genres and in all contexts to reflect upon the potential of humanizing our pedagogy for dance students.” —Sherrie Barr Reviewed in Dance Chronicle: “Humanizing Ballet Pedagogies is ultimately a clarion call for dance teachers to think critically about why they teach ballet in specific ways and to get to know the people in the room.” —Steven Ha https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/a944ecb7-c05b-4c91-b7d6-6cebab7b7e15/9780190296698.jpg Publications Book: Shapes of American Ballet: Teachers and Training Before Balanchine. Oxford University Press, 2016. "At last we've a serious examination by Jessica Zeller of seven brave and resourceful ballet teachers from Russia and Italy who came here to initiate and catalyze their ballet traditions. It's been a missing link in studies of the major influences on the creation of our unique, contemporary American ballet. Located in New York City, their schools tempered and molded both the athletic bodies of Americans, and in so doing affected the bold choreography of our artists. Zeller's fluid and judicious writing brings to light the energy and pathos of early twentieth century dance history." –Judith Chazin-Bennahum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/60b2f950-a4f4-4bf4-b988-b90049967602/9780197777893.jpg Publications - Anthology Chapter: “‘Trust That I Know My Body’: Student Agency and Autonomy in the Ballet Class.” In The Oxford Handbook of Ballet Pedagogy. Edited by Adesola Akinleye and Kathrina Farrugia-Kriel. New York: Oxford University Press, 2026. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/ac115bf7-cf01-4e74-bcf3-1b3a3c745e5b/9781789383614-98842-800x600.jpg Publications - Anthology Chapter: “‘Can you feel it?’: Pioneering Pedagogies that Challenge Ballet’s Authoritarian Traditions.” In (Re:) Claiming Ballet. Edited by Adesola Akinleye. 172-188. Chicago: Intellect Press, 2021. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/5b1b6297-ad6f-436f-93cd-c3e3c5757be5/61N2BA8ZcgL._SL1500_.jpg Publications - Anthology Chapter: “Pedagogy as Protest: Reimagining the Center.” In Hybrid Teaching: Pedagogy, People, and Politics. Edited by Chris Friend. Hybrid Pedagogy. 117-120. Washington, D.C.: Hybrid Pedagogy, Inc., 2021. (Based on my June 2020 post with the same title.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/12450730-37a8-4663-a794-0fcf9c5801cd/Screenshot+2026-07-06+at+12.17.54%E2%80%AFPM.png Publications - Journal Article: “Reflective Practice in the Ballet Class: Bringing Progressive Pedagogy to the Classical Tradition.” Journal of Dance Education 17.3 (2017): 99-105. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/c84d7bb2-b078-418b-bcbb-0f1703335a7c/Screenshot+2026-07-06+at+12.15.33%E2%80%AFPM.png Publications - Journal Article: “On Dance Pedagogy and Embodiment.” Conversations Across the Field of Dance Studies 38. Society of Dance History Scholars. 2017. 17-20. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/f29ec843-16ed-46dc-af40-acfae7a16454/Screenshot+2026-07-06+at+12.19.08%E2%80%AFPM.png Publications - Journal Article: “Luigi Albertieri: Bringing Italian Traditions to American Ballet.” Dance Chronicle 38.1 (2015): 55-80. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/bf2836de-846b-4f9d-b7c9-feb321c78529/61ACkytLLkL._SL1360_.jpg Publications - Anthology Chapter: “Developing the American Ballet Dancer: The Pedagogical Lineage of Rochelle Zide-Booth.” In Dance on Its Own Terms: Histories and Methodologies. Edited by Melanie Bales and Karen Eliot. Oxford University Press, 2013. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/aaf82bcd-42e8-4592-a882-88db73d1b03d/Screenshot+2026-07-06+at+12.17.11%E2%80%AFPM.png Publications - Journal Article: “Teaching Through Time: Tracing Ballet’s Pedagogical Lineage in the Work of Maggie Black.” Dance Chronicle 32.1 (2009): 57-88. https://www.jessicazeller.net/teaching-philosophy-excerpt daily 0.75 2026-07-06 https://www.jessicazeller.net/workshops daily 0.75 2026-07-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/0c146855-ece6-48c5-843a-5487e469624a/Screenshot+2026-07-05+at+8.26.21%E2%80%AFAM.png Workshops Ballet Reeducation: The Summer Fix series. Workshop and discussion with ballet educators. July 2026. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/687c79e1-16c7-4893-bc42-3d6270bca9c4/Screenshot+2026-07-04+at+11.07.05%E2%80%AFAM.png Workshops Colby College Department of Performance, Theater, and Dance. Workshop for undergraduate students. October 2025. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/4c5ee557-fc5a-49b7-b8fe-4b40ee6b01fa/Screenshot+2026-07-04+at+11.04.03%E2%80%AFAM.png Workshops University of Oklahoma School of Dance. Workshop for undergraduate students. February 2025. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/bc61ed88-1e00-413a-87d2-2a3e0a4114c6/Screenshot+2026-07-04+at+11.12.15%E2%80%AFAM.png Workshops Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. Presentation and discussion with faculty and staff. September 2022. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/f3f11a3c-6774-49b7-ad7b-cafcbe810bcf/Screenshot+2026-07-04+at+11.09.49%E2%80%AFAM.png Workshops Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, UK. Presentation and discussion with MA cohort and faculty. March 2022. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/77df1587-7ce3-4770-bd97-e360eb509296/Screenshot+2026-07-04+at+11.14.51%E2%80%AFAM.png Workshops University of Mississippi, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. Presentation and consultation with Arts faculty and administrators. February 2022. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/88e991b1-08ef-4b11-b03f-754169e158e0/Screenshot+2026-07-04+at+11.19.10%E2%80%AFAM.png Workshops Texas Christian University, Koehler Center for Instruction, Innovation, and Engagement. Workshop for faculty co-facilitated with Jason Helms. September 2021. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/dde439bd-732d-479b-9556-84130affaf5e/Screenshot+2026-07-06+at+11.42.50%E2%80%AFAM.png Workshops Digital Pedagogy Lab. Workshop with educators. Summer 2021. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/95e0d91a-c394-46a9-8dc9-aeb8be1f8b44/Screenshot+2026-07-04+at+12.15.37%E2%80%AFPM.png Workshops University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Dance. Presentation and discussion with undergraduate students and faculty. April 2021. https://www.jessicazeller.net/interviews daily 0.75 2026-07-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/e5117022-c272-48e5-93e1-9bccf908c46d/512x512bb.png Interviews The Whole Dancer Podcast. “Humanizing Ballet Pedagogies.” Host Jess Spinner. May 2026. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/ed9e2864-38e8-42b9-bcca-3098ba942cde/Screenshot+2026-07-04+at+12.06.52%E2%80%AFPM.png Interviews Humanizing Ballet Pedagogies: Philosophies, Perspectives, and Praxis (Routledge, 2025) is featured in the 2026 issue of TCU’s Endeavors research magazine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/e83eebea-caaa-4856-a69f-cfbb56079cb7/Screenshot+2026-07-04+at+10.26.47%E2%80%AFAM.png Interviews Ballet Help Desk Podcast: “Elizabeth Gillaspy and Jessica Zeller on the Dance Program at TCU.” April 2025. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/5a84cc27-456d-4909-b064-a9beeeef6ebe/Screenshot+2026-07-04+at+11.23.31%E2%80%AFAM.png Interviews Dance Teacher Magazine. “A Look at Teaching—and Not Grading—Dance in Higher Education.” By Nicole Perry. September 30, 2024. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/b8d07f24-e069-4d3e-b101-77ed77fe8933/Screenshot+2026-07-04+at+11.30.08%E2%80%AFAM.png Interviews The Chronicle of Higher Education Teaching Newsletter. “How do students want instructors to relate to them?” By Beckie Supiano. October 12, 2023. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/a3eb0dc4-d7c3-4f57-9b64-4ba19fe14f4d/Screenshot+2026-07-04+at+11.33.33%E2%80%AFAM.png Interviews Pointe Magazine. “It’s Time to Rethink These Common Corrections.” By Lauren Wingenroth. January 24, 2022. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/c390579b-3597-4804-8ab9-4b206c752732/Screenshot+2026-07-04+at+11.37.11%E2%80%AFAM.png Interviews Dance Magazine. “Do College Dance Department Rankings Matter?” By Garnet Henderson. February 2022. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/cd64d1f9-8698-46dc-83f2-29d7f2b2aa8f/Screenshot+2026-07-04+at+11.38.37%E2%80%AFAM.png Interviews The Chronicle of Higher Education. “The Redefinition of Rigor.” By Beckie Supiano. March 29, 2022. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/03da6c30-9a8a-499e-8fe8-bdfe141a43db/Screenshot+2026-07-04+at+11.41.07%E2%80%AFAM.png Interviews Hybrid Pedagogy Teacher of the Ear Podcast. “Optimism.” Host Chris Friend. January 2022. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/a6a6bd47-af63-40fb-a9bb-4d9a9164c63a/Screenshot+2026-07-04+at+11.42.59%E2%80%AFAM.png Interviews Beyond the Curriculum Podcast. “Building Relationships.” Host Aaron Blackwelder. June 2020. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/aa96593d-c071-4fd7-be1b-7af73a9247a3/Screenshot+2026-07-04+at+11.45.00%E2%80%AFAM.png Interviews Lesson Impossible Podcast. “Ungrading Dance.” Host Aviva Levin. Dec 2021. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/19884511-ca41-4e6a-a55b-0612def7e1b3/Zeller-05-970x706.jpg Interviews Featured in TCU Magazine: “Making the Mind-Body Connection in Dance” by Julie Engbretson, photos by Joyce Marshall https://www.jessicazeller.net/presentations daily 0.75 2026-07-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/f191b18e-c6a6-4b9b-80c9-d0ccc6f50360/Screenshot+2026-07-05+at+5.10.15%E2%80%AFPM.png Presentations Presentation: “Stories Ballet Teachers Tell: bell hooks’s “Confessional Narratives” as Liberatory Pedagogical Praxis in the Ballet Class.” CORPS de Ballet, International conference. July 2026. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/6362125a-67a0-4b59-a45b-d64784e130e1/Screenshot+2026-07-06+at+12.00.01%E2%80%AFPM.png Presentations Momentum Stage Panel: “Creating Change Conversation: Tips in Hand from Published Educators” Panelists: Dr. Jimmy Chrismon, Molly W. Schenk, Dr. Jessica Zeller. Moderated by Nicole Perry. August 2025 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/3488695a-a9a3-4cb8-882d-98ee0799d92a/Screenshot%2B2026-07-05%2Bat%2B4.48.52%25E2%2580%25AFPM.png.webp Presentations American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum Panel: “Raising the Barre: Panel of Leading Dance Educators and Practitioners” Panelists: Paige Cunningham Caldarella, Ilana Goldman, Dr. Jessica Zeller Co-Moderated by Monica Stephenson and Dr. Durell Cooper. May 2025. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/e8ba35f5-b5ee-4a01-8e9b-6e3e7d0be832/Screenshot%2B2026-07-05%2Bat%2B4.55.35%E2%80%AFPM.png.webp Presentations Royal Academy of Dance Guest Lecture Series Event: “On Ballet Pedagogy in Contemporary Times” In Conversation with Norma Sue Fisher-Stitt, Christina Johnson, and Jessica Zeller. Moderated by Dr. Kathrina Farrugia-Kriel. September 2022. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/405377fa-1e1a-4d6d-af85-a8bb74899822/Screenshot+2026-07-05+at+5.02.15%E2%80%AFPM.png Presentations Presentation: "(Un)Grading Ballet: Rethinking Evaluative Practices." Presented at the Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet (MOBBallet) Symposium Dance Scholar Forum. August 2022. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/85b69b78-5859-480d-a7a8-1c5297191715/Screenshot+2026-07-05+at+5.00.46%E2%80%AFPM.png Presentations Presentation: “Grading Dancing: Fitting the Square Peg of Ballet into the Round Hole of University Assessment.” CORPS de Ballet, International conference. July 2020. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/1fc9922c-3c95-48b7-98d6-2fa58475cbbe/Screen+Shot+2019-11-15+at+8.50.07+PM.png Presentations Public Lecture: In the Liminal Space: Pedagogy at the Intersection of Our Ideals and Our Humanity. Temple University’s Dance Studies Colloquium series. November 2019. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/1783290210968-EE0NDM9ENVYNWAM3S2ZZ/Screenshot%2B2026-07-05%2Bat%2B5.19.15%25E2%2580%25AFPM.png Presentations Co-Presentation: "Fiery Tempers and Pocket Violins: Four Italian Ballet Pedagogues in Turn-of-the-Century America." Part of The Italian Influence on Ballet Training in America: A Longitudinal View, with Sharon Oberst. CORPS de Ballet, International conference. Florence, Italy. 2018. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ea218b594c3d263ca1c216a/58203eb4-38da-41b2-bb33-5e3d93713e8a/Screenshot+2026-07-05+at+5.17.10%E2%80%AFPM.png Presentations Presentation: "Tradition and Innovation: Dance Manuals in Early Twentieth Century America." CORPS de Ballet, International conference. Provo, UT. 2017.