Teaching Philosophy

Always under revision and in draft.

My pedagogy begins and ends with students. Students drive my choices and offer me new ways of thinking about learning and subject matter. I believe foremost in the validity of their experiences and their capacities for growth, so I strive to establish an equitable learning environment in the studio and the traditional classroom where all parties can freely participate in the process of inquiry. While dance is the primary subject of study in the courses I teach, it is the prospect of supporting students’ autonomous engagement with dance that fuels my pedagogy.

As a teacher, I aim to design and teach humanizing, equitable courses in the ballet studio and the classroom. In the tradition of Critical Pedagogy, I seek 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, I endeavor 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, I work 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.

I attempt to develop fluid teaching and learning processes with each student, to understand how each student exists and functions in our learning environment, and to welcome them to contribute to the dialogue in their own ways. I trust them outright—their choices and their motivations—and I work to earn their trust in return. In practice, this involves me acknowledging each student daily: noticing details about their physicality and way of taking up space in the room, and extending care as a foundation for our work together. As I learn more about each student and their goals, I work to find a balance between recognizing and supporting their efforts and challenging them to go further. Freire’s paradigm of the “teacher-student” with “students-teachers” guides my day-to-day interactions. I am dedicated to the persistent questioning and re-envisioning that are central to our work as collaborators.

It stands to reason that the more experience one has in teaching, the more predictable one’s approach becomes; yet I know the opposite to be true. As I consider and reconsider my pedagogic approach, the possibilities for student learning and engagement continue to grow. This praxis-based work helps me tailor my teaching to each new class of students—to work with them as partners in learning. Dance, then, emerges as both a subject of study and a framework through which we come to know ourselves and the world.