STATEMENTS
Artistic Statement
I believe humankind is at its best when we are supporting and uplifting each other. One of the ways we can achieve this is to foster empathy and find a platform through which we can come to understand one another. For me, this platform is dance. Dancing is one of the most vulnerable things I do. When I dance, I am sharing the depths of my being, and nothing gets left out. Whatever I feel gets physicalized through movement, one way or another. As an artist, I am inspired by the complexities of human existence. I view it as my purpose to foster a creative process through which my dancers feel like they can share their own complexities, embodying them through movement. I love to work with dancers who have dedication to this purpose, even if it is uncomfortable or scary for them at first. Whether it be in an athletic jazz number, a psychological contemporary work, or an effervescent improvisational score, my goal as an artist is to enable my feelings, convictions, and experiences to translate through my work in a way that humankind can relate to, reminding us that we are all more alike than we are different.
Teaching Philosophy
What I most love about teaching is that you can inspire people to accomplish things they never thought they were capable of. Under my guidance, students will gain the strength to maintain the embodiment of their most authentic self while simultaneously following the given instruction laid out by the teacher. The main technical components emphasized in my class are developing personal artistry, building a relationship with the music, and surrendering oneself to the movement through full mind, body, and spirit presence. What my students most like about my class is that it is physically rewarding and tailored to the individual’s personal growth. A method that I use in class to achieve this is providing adaptations or alternative practices for a specific movement sequence, as I recognize that every body is different. My main goal as a dance teacher is to raise students that are driven to do their best regarding their technical performance and recognizing all of the social and historical factors that inform that. I describe my relationship with my students as inspiring. It is a two-way road in which both the teacher and the students can learn from and support one another.