teaching statement

The classroom and studio space is a sacred space. A place full of possibilities, curiosity, support, and endless ether, enough to carry the unraveling of the human subconscious, with infinite energy to hold space for supple stories and abundant courage. My class is inspired from movement that is sourced from Ballet, Contact, Contemporary, Hip Hop, House, Improvisation, Jazz, Modern, and Release.

Every class begins with an acknowledgment of who we are sharing space with, what land we are dancing on, and a short invitation to how we are feeling that day. I invite my students to come into the space and class as the person they are today, with the body they have, encouraging messiness, playfulness, and courage.

Contact Improvisation and Partner Work is integral to my practice and classes as it fosters this continuous exchange of energy, trust, presence, gratitude, integrity, surrender, and risk. Living in a modern and overstimulating world, my class is a place for movers to come and release the excess noise and sink into the integrity of each moment. Whether they are dancing alone, with other bodies in shared space and time, or if they are creating harmony and union through contact work in class. Creating and honoring the essence and integrity of each moment through mindfulness, connection, and a collaborative spirit, my class is designed to refuel students' spark that may have been empty or overstimulated from the outside world.

Using varying somatic practices, floorwork, improvisational scores, finding pathways on high, middle, and low planes, we come back into our bodies which therefore give us permission to share that artistry and energy with others in the space. Using modalities of shared weight, momentum, risk taking, and curiosity, play is at the forefront. Evoking emotions and storytelling through contemporary movement which ultimately lead to healing any grief or heaviness in the body and heart as a collective in class but also individually. My class asks the question: How can you dance together with others? How can you dance beyond yourself when you are alone? What pathways, practices, and processes assist us in finding ways to deepen exchanges within and outside of movement and storytelling?

Through combining eastern and western movement and music influences, I create an environment that brings together movers and makers from all walks of life. I believe that dance has the power to change how people and communities come together, and simultaneously encourage the individual to continue to dig deeper within so one can pour into others more often. In the end, the sense of sharing space and time in a collaborative effort using shared weight, momentum, curiosity, and play, is what is most transformative in my classes.