Teaching Philosophy

Dance is innate in all of us from the moment we are born. It is the reason babies joyfully dance to music when no one has taught them any form of movement yet. Movement is our first from of communication – it is a natural response that we carry with us throughout our lives. Dance is not only rich in culture and history, but is the only art form that embodies all elements of art and music that is emotionally expressive and athletically demanding. For that very unique reason, dance is not a piece of art that can be hung on a wall or be the same every time it is performed. The best way to experience dance is in person, at a special moment in time when a community comes together to celebrate and appreciate dance. As a dance educator, my three teaching philosophies are for students to train in codified techniques, obtain dance appreciation and generate unique movement that is creative and expressive.

Codified dance techniques are the systemic foundations of technical and expressive movement that are consistent no matter where in the world you study them. Once one has learned the core principles and vocabulary of a codified technique, they can apply the fundamental movements to any form of dance. There are several codified dance techniques, however, the ones I will focus on will be Ballet, Graham, and Horton, as those will ground the dancer in a broad range of movements. Through these three techniques, students will be able to demonstrate each unique method with the body, determine each technique by observation and discuss exactly what they observed using dance terminology. In the classroom, after focusing on codified techniques we will take a trip around the world to study cultural dance and how movement conveys meaning and emotion – all with the intent to draw a connection to my second philosophy, dance appreciation.

Dance appreciation teaches students to understand the origin of dance and why dance is important to the artist, community and culture. Once students understand the origin, the intentions of the artist and the impact of the specific dance on the community and culture, they can better understand why dance is important to them on a very specific and powerful personal level. This emotional ‘moment of truth,’ resonating on a personal level, is the moment that dance becomes a true expressive art form, and more than just a form of movement. As critical as a personal emotional response may be, it is equally important that students are unbiased – as a true dance scholar would be when critiquing and speaking about the specific artists intentions and influences. As a final point on dance appreciation, in the classroom, I plan to teach the origins of dance through history lessons with of each codified technique.

My final teaching philosophy is creative movement and expression – the most personal of the three philosophies. In the creative movement process one generates, varies and manipulates movement using the principles of dance: body, space, time, flow, and relationships through the process of improvisation. This is challenging, yet rewarding because it allows for the most artistic freedom and self-expression. After exploration students make aesthetic choices expressing their understanding of a concept. These movements are then organized into a movement sentence or phrase that is shared or performed for other students.

All of these philosophies have a connective thread that is based on establishing and nurturing a love for the natural movement, as well as the artistic expression, of dance. This understanding and appreciation for dance is something that will last a lifetime. I believe that on a step-by-step basis of my three teaching philosophies I will succeed in accomplishing this, and moreover helping reiterate why dance is critical in school, community and culture.