PAMELA GEBER HANDMAN portrait
  • Director of Undergraduate Studies, Modern Dance Department
  • Advisor for Secondary Teaching, Modern Dance Department
  • Professor, School Of Dance
801-587-9806

Current Courses

Spring 2024

  • BALLE 4650-002
    Perf Credit: UB
    Location: MCD 40 (MCD 40), MCD 60 (MCD 60), MCD 260 (MCD 260), MCD 240 (MCD 240), MCD 220 (MCD 220), MCD 20 (MCD 20)
  • BALLE 6400-001
    Grad Exp Applications
    Location: MCD 20 (MCD 20)
  • BALLE 6650-002
    Performance Credit: Gra
  • DANC 2320-001
    Dance Techniques
    Location: MCD 220 (MCD 220)
  • DANC 4388-002
    Dance Performance
    Location: MCD 40 (MCD 40), MCD 260 (MCD 260), MCD 220 (MCD 220), MCD 240 (MCD 240), MCD 60 (MCD 60), MCD 20 (MCD 20)
  • DANC 4511-001
    Exp Anatomy for Dance
    Location: MCD 220 (MCD 220), MCD 220 (MCD 220)
  • DANC 6120-001
    Grad Dance Techniques
    Location: MCD 220 (MCD 220)
  • DANC 6640-001
    Grad Exp Applications
    Location: MCD 20 (MCD 20)
  • DANC 6730-002
    Grad Dance Performance
  • DANC 6960-001
    Graduate Projects

Professional Organizations

  • VSI-Very Special Arts (special education and arts). 06/10/2019 - present. Position : Member.
  • National Dance Education Organization. 09/11/2017 - present. Position : Member.
  • Dance Science and Somatics Educators (formerly: Dance Kinesiology Teachers). 01/05/2015 - present. Position : Member & Current Chair.
  • International Association for Dance Medicine and Science. 01/02/2015 - present. Position : Member.
  • Utah Dance Education Organization. 01/02/2015 - present. Position : Member.

Teaching Philosophy

 

Statement of Teaching Philosophy

 

 

Teaching is an ongoing dialogue.  It is about listening as well as guiding.  As a teacher, I try to stimulate the students’ sense of wonder in the unknown, challenge them to take risks, pose questions and be themselves.  Students come to dance classes with a wide range of abilities and interests.  On all skill levels, I try to help them discover the tools to communicate with fluency, acquire heightened awareness, and develop an instrument free of hampering limitations.  Teaching is about the cultivation of the students’ voice: one of confidence, eloquence, articulation and passion.

 

I am passionate about deep investigation and drawing connections between areas.  I seek to embody the risk-taking that I want to inspire in my students but in so doing, understanding the tools that will take us all there safely and effectively.  I seek to foster honesty, generosity, individuality and joy.      

Movement can trigger associations via the senses.  Fully realized dance metaphors are both expressive and reflective.  In this way, dance can be an added lens through which we formulate our perceptions. 

 

                                                            Pamela Geber

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…the dance, freeing the body from needless inhibitions, and breaking down the unessential reserves, frees the real man for a wider and more satisfying life.

 

                                                            -Margaret H’Doubler

 

Dance…by altering the environment, evokes in us unique ratios of sense perceptions.  The extension of any one sense alters the way we think and act – the way we perceive the world.  When these ratios change, men change.

 

                                                            -Marshall McLuhan

Teaching Projects

  • Community Engagement - teaching. Project Lead: Pamela Geber Handman. Collaborators: Brooke Barnhill. none 08/29/2022 - 12/02/2022. Total Budget: $0.00.
  • Community Engagement - teaching. Project Lead: Pamela Geber Handman. Collaborators: Brooke Barnhill. none 08/29/2022 - 12/02/2022. Total Budget: $0.00.
  • Community Engagement - teaching. Project Lead: Pamela Geber Handman. Collaborators: Joni Wilson. none 08/27/2022 - 12/10/2022. Total Budget: $0.00.
  • Community Engagement - teaching. Project Lead: Pamela Geber Handman and Kelby McIntyre-Martinez. Collaborators: Wesley Wilson. grant from Wesley Wilson in the Dept of Special Education at the University of Utah 08/30/2021 - 04/29/2022.
  • Teaching Projects in relation to Axis Dance Company (and Utah Presents). Project Lead: Pamela Geber Handman. Collaborators: Kristen Paul, Angela Smith. Council of Dee Fellows-$10,000 received 11/05/2019 - 11/09/2019. Total Budget: $10,000.00.
  • Pamela attending teacher workshops & collaborations in London & Chester, UK. Project Lead: With Candodo Dance, Magpie Dance, StopGap Dance, Jemima Hoadley & Trinity Laban. Collaborators: Candoco, Magpie, StopGap, Hoadley, Trinity Laban. 11/01/2018 - 11/10/2018.
  • Pamela attending Forward Motion teacher intensives/festival in Miami, FL. Project Lead: P with Candoco Dance (UK based), Axis Dance (CA based), Karen Peterson Dance (FL based) and others. Collaborators: Candodo, Axis, Karen Peterson. 09/26/2018 - 09/30/2018.
  • Teacher Training Intensive - Axis Dance Company. Project Lead: Pamela attending the training in Oakland, CA. 08/13/2018 - 08/17/2018.
  • Teacher conference & training. Project Lead: Pamela-co host for Dance Science & Somatics Educators (DSSE). Collaborators: DSSE committee (Tom Welsh, Anne Burnidge, Sonia Deville, Margaret Wilson, Gabby McNeillie, Tricia Zweier with guests Kitty Daniels and Irene Dowd. 08/02/2018 - 08/05/2018.
  • Guest Teacher - Kearns St Anne's Elementary's After Care Program (inclusive, mixed ability). Project Lead: Pamela Geber Handman. 10/25/2017 - 10/26/2017.
  • Instructor - Utah School for the Deaf and the Blind (worked with visually impaired individuals, many of whom have multiple disabilities). Project Lead: Pamela Handman. 09/15/2017 - 11/17/2017.
  • Instructor - American College Dance Festival at Univ of Oregon. Project Lead: Pamela Geber Handman. 03/24/2017 - 03/29/2017.
  • Instructor - Utah Ballet Summer Institute. Project Lead: Pamela Geber Handman. 07/11/2016 - 07/22/2016.
  • Guest Lecturer in Dept of Special Education Course. Project Lead: Pamela Geber Handman/Kristen Paul. 04/13/2016 - 04/13/2016.
  • Taught & presented at University of Washington's Fall Conference. Project Lead: Pamela Geber Handman. 10/15/2015 - 10/20/2015.
  • Cleveland State University SummerDance. Project Lead: Pamela Geber Handman. Cleveland State University 07/06/2015 - 07/10/2015.
  • Regional Dance America-intensive workshop. Project Lead: Pamela Geber Handman-teaching contemporary dance technique. 07/28/2014 - 08/01/2014.
  • Integrated Arts Workshops for Kids. Project Lead: Pamela Geber Handman. Collaborators: Kindra Fehr. 06/23/2014 - 06/27/2014.
  • Salt Dance Fest. Project Lead: Pamela Geber Handman-teaching Somatics. 06/01/2014 - 06/15/2014.
  • Regional Dance America. Project Lead: Pamela Geber Handman-teaching contemporary dance technique. 04/30/2014 - 05/03/2014.
  • Jump Start: Creative Community Project for Individuals with Down Syndrome & Their Families. Project Lead: Pamela Geber Handman. Collaborators: Melissa Bond. Council of Dee Fellows 09/24/2013 - 12/10/2013. Total Budget: $3,760.00.
  • Study of Gyrotonics & Gyrokinesis - retooling & updating my teaching resources. Project Lead: Pamela Geber Handman. University Teaching Committee 06/10/2013 - 07/26/2013. Total Budget: $1,050.00.

Student Projects

  • Jump Start: (see above in terms of how UU modern dance students & screendance certificate students were integrated within the project). Amanda Newman, lead student. 09/24/2013 - 12/10/2013

Other Profile Data

 

TEACHING - As a teacher, what I most want students to understand is themselves, especially as artists.  I strive to model being in the moment with all material I present in class, continually investigating, questioning and reaching new understandings.  As an artist/educator, the creative act of teaching is, in itself a present-tense research endeavor.  Every year I teach, I learn more about the subject matter, myself and the individuals in the room.  I feel that one of my strengths as a teacher is my ability to help students make meaning from what we’re investigating.  I teach with an array of approaches, communicating to different types of learners.  I draw connections between areas: artistry and science for example.  Since I seek to embody what I teach, be it for a studio-based course (technique or improvisation/composition) or more of a discussion/lecture class (dance kinesiology), I present information from a lived experience.  To that end, I have attended workshops, conferences and classes in order to expand my information-base as an educator and stay current in the field.  I have been passionate about coordinating events that bring together teachers of note and have organized several conferences and workshops (participating in the classes myself).

Accomplishments:

a) The courses I’ve taught at UU include: Modern Dance Technique and Theory (Contemporary Technique), Workshop: Improvisation/Composition, Dance Kinesiology, Secondary Teaching Methods, Children’s Teaching Methods, Advanced Principles of Teaching, Ballet Technique (taught awhile ago) and Dance Performance (PDC direction).

b) Beyond UU, I’ve taught professional development workshops in the Teachers’ Workshop for Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company (summer, 2011 – a weeklong intensive shared with Gigi Arrington).  I taught Modern/Contemporary Technique and Dance Kinesiology/Injury Prevention, both with added discussions specifically designed for dance teachers.  I also facilitated several discussion sessions dealing with an array of issues around teaching.  In the last few years, I’ve been asked to teach more of the teaching methods/pedagogy classes in our department at UU.  By teaching future teachers and current teachers, I feel as though I’m evolving as an educator myself.     

c) Beyond UU, I’ve taught classes in the Salt Lake City community including: Integrated Arts Workshops for children (summers 2010, 2011, 2012 & upcoming in 2013, co-developed and taught with visual artist, Kindra Fehr), professional-level Modern/Contemporary Dance Technique classes (2008 and 2009 at Sugar Space, 2006 and 2008 at Rowland Hall as a part of the Ration Class series) and Creative Movement and Music for Children (2007 and 2009, Montessori Community School).  I’ve also taught as a part of the Northwest Regional Conferences for the American College Dance Festival Association including: Modern/Contemporary Technique and Experiential Anatomy (2008 and 2012 at UU, 2008 at Utah Valley University). 

d) Since 2007, I’ve taught out-of-region at the following places: Oberlin College, OH (2008) and Bordeaux, France (2007). 

e) I’ve participated in many workshops and professional development activities, something I will continue to do.  I’ve coordinated several workshops and mini-conferences as well, bringing together educators of note and then taking the opportunity to study with these individuals.  A few of the influential, nationally and internationally renowned artists/educators with whom I’ve studied are: Irene Dowd, Peggy Hackney, Kitty Daniels, Shelley Senter, Becci Parsons, Martin Keogh, Sara Rudner, David Dorfman and Eiko and Koma. 

Goals:

a) Every year I revamp the courses I teach, incorporating new ideas, experiences and practices with previously utilized pedagogical strategies.  This is central to my teaching preparation and I will continue doing this. To that end, I will continue attending workshops when possible.  I participated in SaltDanceFest this in summer 2012, studying with the renowned, international guest artists on the roster.  (I took several SaltDanceFest classes in summer 2011 with a different group of educators/artists.) Within the Dance Kinesiology Teachers’ Group, an organization I co-founded with Tom Welsh, Margaret Wilson and Jane Baas, we continue to share teaching resources and ideas across the larger, international membership and additionally, coordinate mini-conferences and other gatherings.  I will continue to be involved with this group.  Upcoming for summer 2013, I am co-coordinating a mini-conference for the Dance Kinesiology Teachers' Group, to be held at the University of Utah.

b) New teaching ventures of my own include the following:  I am currently developing a community-based project involving individuals with Down syndrome and a family member.  This will involve collaboration with renowned local writer and poet, Melissa Bond as well as utilize modern dance students, film students, and screendance certificate students, and involve several organizations including the Utah Down Syndrome Foundation, DDI Vantage (Early Intervention Program), Tanner Dance and the Imagination Place.  I would like to do more guest teaching out-of-region.  Recently, I’ve been invited to teach in Portland, OR and Seattle, WA.  I’m also interested in guest teaching on the East Coast.