As a dance educator, I embrace movers at all levels and ages. Sensitive to both the setting and those particular dancers, I facilitate an environment of hard work coupled with patience and encouragement. I engage my students to think critically about movement, and empower them to trust and use their embodied knowledge. 

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I strongly value technique as a foundation for cultivating an individual's artistry. I believe that it is important for dancers to know why they practice certain types of movement and understand what is happening in their musculature and skeletal structure that allows those movements to happen.​

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​With patience and a keen ability to call attention to and clarify details, I maintain an ongoing dialogue with dancers to address issues that may arise during the course of class and work with them to find solutions. In addition, I frequently have students work in partners or groups to palpate movement concepts on one another, in order to ensure their understanding. ​This empowers dancers, trains them to teach one another, and builds a sense of community amongst the class.

 

Of equal importance, I encourage students to be dynamic in their approach to movement. I promote the use of breath and energy to inform their movement quality. Through the practice of moving dynamically in technique exercises and combinations, I aim to instill a sense of presence in dancers’ movement, which manifests itself in performance. I encourage creativity and improvisational skills in order to help dancers find their own voice in their movement and to communicate that through their dancing. These are all critical skills to developing as performers and choreographers. It is with these building blocks that I facilitate for dancers an approach to movement involving a sense of ownership and confidence, which in turn produces a powerful and unique mover.

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