Teaching Philosophy

I believe in the power of dance, its creative possibilities, and the sense of community that blossoms across connections. I recently attended a virtual dance show directed and choreographed by one of my former Dallas College Eastfield Campus students. This student took my studio technique classes from 2014 to 2016. As I watched, I reflected on how fulfilling it felt to witness their personal and artistic growth. This was yet another moment that confirmed my own pursuits to share my passion for dance through education. The bulk of my teaching is in the higher ed setting and my teaching philosophy remains rooted in my passion to prepare students for success. My overarching goals as an educator are to promote proactivity, creative expression, and collaboration within a culturally relevant learning environment.

I encourage proactivity in my classrooms by fostering a student-centered learning environment. It is important to me that my students are able to practice taking responsibility for their own learning. In my classes I do this by regularly prompting self-reflective questions. Not only do I want students to be engaged in course content, but I notice that learning resonates more effectively when they have active responsibility in their learning process. As an educator who is continually learning, it is also important to me to lead by example. I strive to approach our course content with curiosity, engagement, and reflection to model the attitude and behavior of a proactive learner.  

While I believe the practice of technical skill is essential to the development of a holistic dancer, creative expression holds comparable value. I saturate my classes with opportunity for students to create within a facilitated structure. After learning drop swing and spiral roll in my beginning modern class for instance, I prompt my students to create their own sequence. Such activities empower students to assimilate course content and hone their individual creative voice. It is important to me that my students not only execute technical movement pathways but can demonstrate skill through their own artistic voice.   

I promote collaboration through group activities that engage listening and responding. I want students to safely take risks and make mistakes, so it is important to me to foster class community and inclusivity. Similarly, I see my own role as an educator not as a foolproof expert, but as one who engages in reciprocal learning though student dialogue. In my studio technique classes I group students together to offer each other peer feedback or work on creative tasks. By emphasizing the value of individuality, students can appreciate their own role and the role of their peers in a collaborative learning community. Consequently, I notice that students become more motivated and self-driven individuals.

A culturally relevant learning environment materializes in my classrooms through diverse course content and utilizing student personal experience to support deeper learning. I strive to incorporate a broad range of perspectives in my course content to give students a greater opportunity to relate to and see themselves in the course material. One way that I utilize personal experience to support deeper learning is through an introductory assignment I use in my Dance Appreciation and studio technique classes: I ask students to describe where they witness or participate in dance outside of a classroom (weddings, quinceañera, clubs, etc). Then, I ask students to reflect on the differences and similarities of others. This assignment enables students to share their unique relationship to dance within the class community and serves as a launching point for deeper understanding of different experiences.    

My journey as a dance educator is ongoing. I am thoughtfully committed to the rigor of this form, ever curious about what is currently relevant in the field, and dedicated to expanding my approach in engaging student identity into the learning experience. I am enthusiastic about incorporating my ever-evolving expertise into my teaching. I chose to pursue a dance education profession because I believe in the power of dance. Dance supports the opportunity to practice invaluable skills such as proactivity, creative expression, and collaboration, among many others, that are applicable across other professions and real-life situations. 

Courses Taught

Higher Ed

DANCE 140/141 Ballet Technique I/II

DANCE 151/152 Contemporary Technique I/II

DANC 1113 / DANC 1201 Improvisation

DANC 1141 Body Conditioning

DANC 1241 Beginning Ballet

DANC 1301 Composition - Choreography

DANC 1305 World Dance

DANC 1341/1342 Ballet Technique I/II

DANC 1345/ 1346 Modern Technique I/II

DANC 1347/1348/2347 Jazz Technique I/II/III

DANC 1200 Dance Appreciation (Hybrid)

DANC 2303 Dance Appreciation (Online)

DANC 2400 Modern Technique II

DANC 3410 Ballet Technique III

DNCE 3383 & WS 3383 Dance, Gender, and Culture (Online)

Middle School

Jump into Dance (6th grade)

Advanced Dance (7th-8th grade)

Studio/Community

Creative Dance

Toddler-Caregiver Creative Dance

Ballet, beginning through advanced

Pointe

Contemporary, beginning through advanced

Improvisation

Dance film

Conditioning