My experience with a severe injury broadened my knowledge of movement modalities and changed my methods of movement observation. Integrating these new perspectives with my extensive experience in classical ballet and traditional modern techniques enabled me to discover my own physical language. I build technique classes by integrating Bartenieff Fundamentals™, developmental movement, and various somatic approaches to create a physical practice that is also an expressive endeavor. I analyze students' movement in the context of their whole body and work with them to uncover their self-limiting strategies. I introduce new information by proposing alternative concepts to guide thinking or use touch to enhance neuromuscular functioning and facilitate deeper expression. I ask students questions aimed to provide the experience of discovering the answer, demanding they become active in thought and imagination about their own body and work. I aspire to incorporate diverse models of movement, thinking, imagination, interaction and creation.
The practice of choreography is the process of creating questions that manifest in movement and work to reveal a new understanding of self and the world we live in. It involves the deep consideration of far-reaching variables that can include mundane behavioral gestures, highly mathematical structures, sensory impulses and much more. In teaching composition I emphasize the understanding of aesthetic traditions while developing a personal viewpoint to guide explorations of form. Through structured improvisations, assignments, and discussions, students investigate abstract, conceptual, and narrative themes as they work to discover their aesthetic and cultural voices. In class I provide opportunities to make choices impulsively and intuitively and discuss the outcome of our decisions so that students begin to learn what inspires and stimulates them.
I have taught many courses in dance kinesiology, ranging from anatomy-based lectures to studio courses that synthesize somatic movement modalities, aimed at exploring the functional, aesthetic and social issues that dictate personal and cultural movement preferences. The primary questions that guide my courses are: What are the domains of our limitations? How have our perceptions developed from the combinations of physical, emotional, mental, and cultural experiences? How can we best communicate ideas for change that encompass the relationship between mind and body versus fixing an isolated part? The application of this process is three fold, first to look at ourselves and develop our awareness of body and self, second to develop skills of observation and communication for use in teaching, and third to synthesize experiences that stimulate creation of movement. My intention is to facilitate an understanding of movement that questions our limitations and inspires individual and cultural identity-making.
In addition to teaching composition, technique, and functional anatomy I have created courses in improvisation, repertory, history, and music and dance collaborations in the 20th century. In improvisation, I cultivate students' awareness of personal movement preferences and challenge them to discover new realms of physical expression. Our emphasis is to cultivate spontaneity and decrease the limiting effects of self-doubt by instilling courage and promoting dialogue with peers and the literature of the subject. I use Laban Movement Analysis, Anne Bogart's Viewpoints and modern and post-modern improvisation structures to provide a flexible yet concrete forum for investigation.
I work to engage students in the aesthetic questions of our time. I push them to question the methodological framework of my pedagogy and enjoy the shifts in perception that these provide my own aesthetic choices.
Examples of classes I have taught in the past:
Modern Dance: This class integrates classical modern dance elements with contemporary vocabulary. Emphasis is placed on the somatic learning process of developing efficient movement patterns by asking how thought is expressed in movement. The warm-up is structured through developmental movement patterns and combines Bartenieff Fundamentals with ideas from Irene Dowd's work with spirals and Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation patterns. Combinations are developed throughout the class by building on the ideas of moving consciously on and off center, into and out of the floor and of flying through space. The class can be tailored to emphasize contact improvisation, partnering or Terrain's or the creation of new repertory.
Improvisation/Composition: Improvisation can be an artistic expression, a tool for self-understanding and a means for developing ideas to create dances. We use Anne Bogart's Viewpoints and modern and post-modern improvisation structures to help students overcome inhibitions and provide a forum for investigation.
Professional Development for Dancers and Teachers: Learn to identify forces contributing to improper performance in your self and students and develop new ways to communicate changes in function and expression. Classes will draw from methodologies of Ideokinses and the teachings of Irene Dowd, combined with developmental movement and Bartenieff Fundamentals, to help design and implement proper courses of action to overcome difficulties.
Lecture Demonstration: Short performance that can be designed to suit an audiences' needs. Options include: members of the audience contributing to improvisations, audience participation in short sections of the performance, and/or discussions that interweave background information and answer questions.
Introduction to Dance workshops: A mixture of improvisation games, learned sequences, and discussions: designed for small spaces, schools, community centers, or churches.
