dance

i consider class a functional, sacred and revolutionary practice. I love the magic fostered when folks come together for the sake of grounding and attending to our bodies and creativities. It feels inherently radical–learning, working, building community. I value the space for practice with no product or end in mind other than the here and now of showing up. Taking class inspires and nurtures me in different ways than rehearsing or performing does. It keeps me feeling alive as an artist. It is community. It is communion.

my contemporary practice(s) class is a highly imaginative and highly physical investigation of ourselves as movers. Together, we cultivate a space for building curiosity, community, care and rigor by embracing experimentation, kindness and inclusivity. This is a laboratory: risk and failure are encouraged, as they are part of the learning process. We work from the body we bring each day, and we are invited to call upon all the techniques and herstories/theystories/histories that our bodies hold. Rooted in the technical fundamentals of euro-american release technique and postmodern dance, class begins with a sensation-based collage of improvisation and set material. Following impulses that lie just beneath the surface of the skin and deep inside our bones, we swirl and cast together. We nurture our techniques and curiosities through set sequences, improvisation scores and composition games. Class culminates with a set-ish phrase that encourages cultivating your own artistry within the material, while also challenging us physically and creatively. 

my teaching practice is in constant conversation with my choreographic research. I introduce improvisational scores, composition games and phrase work in class that are current in my creative process. My class is another laboratory for sitting with and sharing my body based research with others.

my own dancing background is also woven into my pedagogy. I grew up dancing in a studio, in the street, on a stage, in my bedroom, in a gymnasium, in my imagination. I value all of these dances and dancing spaces, and I take lessons from them all into my class. I am interested in the liminal space where all of these forms can meet and collaborate.