Teaching Philosophy

Great instruction is an act of self-giving. Teachers should be ready to place their students first while sharing their knowledge, experiences, and humanity. I am always excited to encourage the students’ aspirations by presenting them with information and experiences that are relevant to our past and present culture as well as to their dance training. I strive to help them develop a lifestyle of learning. However, while teaching, it is important to meet students where they are. Therefore, I use many approaches to address the different learning styles students possess. The goal of my courses is not for the students to learn hordes of facts and theories but to critically think about the course material. We engage as people--body, mind, and essence, in a holistic and emotionally positive environment integrating these aspects of humanity. The learning is about quality, not quantity, whether I am teaching dance technique, choreography, dance history or theory.

In the dance world, and with ballet in particular, perfectionism can be an obstacle for students. Ballet has a long history of only focusing on its performance—the technical steps or the products of a course. Following Carol Dweck’s growth mindset theory, (Mindset: How You Can Fulfil Your Potential) I endeavor to teach the discipline as a developmental process, with expected challenges and struggles, as opposed to perceiving learning abilities as innate and unchangeable—a fixed mindset. I believe everyone can have a place in the dance world. A person may not be a star dancer but if they are open to the possibilities of work and expression that the dance world offers, they may still be able to use their talents. In my classes, we participate in embodying the skills of dance artistry on several levels. Students sit at the center of my teaching philosophy. I perceive my vocation as enabling the students’ success and positively contributing to the evolution of the American dance world.

My philosophy and teaching methodology are grounded in my belief of modeling, I do not expect students to learn and grow if I failed to be their example. I try to help the students balance getting their work completed but also allow themselves some space to enjoy their art. It is my belief that life skills should be a significant part of a liberal arts education, so I always spend time discussing creative problem solving in my courses. Furthermore, it is of the upmost importance that I present my best work before I can ask it of my students. Modeling entails respecting all that the students bring, since I am learning with them and from them. I give them autonomy and ownership of their learning in several ways. They have options for assignment methods, and they choose the topics we cover at the end of the course. We dialogue almost every class, both in small groups and/or as a class. My door is always open, so I am available to listen as well as support. I also utilize humor when I teach. As ballerina Dame Margot Fonteyn stated, “Take the work seriously--not yourself.” Excellent dancers literally have good balance as part of their technique. I incorporate that balance in life overall in my pedagogy.

Although my teaching has always been connected in some way to social justice issues, the need for my work, both with my presence as a Black ballet dancer and with my scholarship documenting Blacks in ballet is timely. My ability to present varied perspectives will deepen the DEI work of the University of Utah, the American ballet world, and the nation at large. To do this job effectively and put my students respectfully at the center of my pedagogy, it is imperative that I continue to study because I cannot teach or lead if I cannot learn and follow. I must continue to share the contributions, achievements, and resilience of Black ballet dancers including my own.

I scaffold the courses I teach so that after--three of the four dance history and theory classes we require--the unergraduate students will have foundational dance theory skills and the ability to conduct creative and scholarly dance research. Part of that entails investigating what will be the best way to fit BIPOC foundations in dance history, which is primarily presented in a Eurocentric manner in the discipline. I have reworked the current curriculu of my classes to provide more inclusive dance history and theory. As one of my mentors, the late Kariamu Welsh wrote in “Commonalities in African Dance: An aesthetic Foundation.”  the dimensionaltiy of beleifs and practices from the African diaspora "speak to the supernatural in space, the presence beyond the visual presence.” I live in this dimensional space and imcorporate it into my teaching. I engage students as people in their entirety.