Rashaun Mitchell and Silas Reiner
Today we read inspiring quotes from four artists who have shared their stories on the blog during the past year. Click on any name below to read the full artist profile.
From Gwen Welliver (New York, NY and Tallahassee, FL)
The role of teaching in your career and what the term “teaching artist” means to you:
Teaching is lab time. I bring in an idea, others try it, and our work together activates the idea. Work created in the "classroom" is invariably more amazing than anything I could have ever envisioned - and this inspiration fuels me to make work. In this way teaching is fundamental to my creative practice.
From Joan Woodbury (Salt Lake City, UT)
On the subject of teaching:
I am always a little shocked or perhaps saddened to see workshops advertised for "dancers in transition," with the implication being...transitioning OUT of the field. My constant advice and pleasure is to see dancers stay IN the field and to continue their involvement in ways dictated by their interests, training, talent and capacity. During all of our years directing Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company and teaching at the University of Utah, both Shirley and I felt it a great necessity for dancers to get as much training and experience as performers, teachers and choreographers as possible. Dancers in our company have always been given opportunities to learn to teach and choreograph during their performing tenure with us. And of course there are many other areas in which dancers can become expert and continue to contribute to the field.
The artist/teacher is a rare bird and is extremely valuable for the survival of the art form. A teacher who educates dancers encourages curiosity, critical and creative thinking, exploration, improvisation, technical growth and dance making. This person is the one who nurtures the artists of tomorrow. I have studied with many artist/teachers, and the ones who have inspired and changed my life are those who treat each technique class (in fact any class) as a journey in the motional development of an idea or concept, not just a series of unrelated technical phrases to learn. They make sure that the participants are involved --- physically, psychically, emotionally, creatively, spiritually and communally. In a well-developed technique class, I have always admired the class which begins with the dancer either sitting or lying on the floor, where he/she is relieved from the pull of gravity, and can move the body and its parts with an understanding of how the human skeleton is built and thus is able to move…what it can and cannot do...without having to worry about falling. I also feel that there always needs to be a conceptual point of view which relates to one or more elements upon which to concentrate. Then the activities can develop and become more varied, complicated and challenging, gradually bringing the dancers to their feet.
When upright and vertical with the body, now influenced by the pull of gravity, they begin stationary activities working on verticality... placement, balance and strength … the relationship of the feet, knees, hips, lower back, chest, top of the head, etc. There are a myriad of technical ideas which could speak to the timing of a simple gesture of the leg for instance, the size, scope and weight of it, its relationship to space, its motional quality and any number of ideas which the teacher has in mind for the class of the day, always clarifying and simplifying. After setting the subject matter, the phrases begin to develop from short, and perhaps simple to complex, gradually adding more complication physically, spatially and/or rhythmically as the dancers come across the floor. This gradual development allows the dancers to really understand and “dance" the material because they understand it, rather than just trying to copy or mimic long phrases which have been given to them all at once at the beginning. Usually the classes then end climactically in some form of running, leaping, or jumping gloriously. I think with great fondness on my greatest technique teachers…. Nik, Murray, Hanya, Louise and Mary...even though I have taken classes from many other wonderful dance artists.
From Rashaun Mitchell (Brooklyn, NY)
What is the role of teaching within your dance life? What do you love about teaching?
Teaching is an art form. It requires subtle calibration and sensitivity to the students in front of you. I’m lucky in that I get to teach students who have specifically chosen a conservatory program. They really want to be there and remain engaged in the ongoing process of learning. I get to see young artists develop over time. I get to build lasting relationships with young people entering the field, driving new questions into the mix. I learn a lot from them. The responsibility involved in the contract keeps me searching for new information all of the time. I feel very full. I’m able to experiment with some of my choreographic ideas in a trusting and supportive environment of very talented young artists.
From Susan Marshall (New York, NY)
What the phrase “teaching artist” means to you:
The phrase makes me recall my early touring years, when the idea that an artist should teach master classes when he/she tours was just beginning to become something that presenters could and should require. Back then, I thought, you don't want me teaching – I have no experience as a teacher. Of course, years later I am extremely grateful for having been pushed to develop as a teacher. The years of touring and master classes grew into workshops and intensives. My teaching has always centered on choreography and collaborative creation – SUMAC, my company's annual summer intensive in New York, centers on offering choreographers and dancers space and support to practice making dances collaboratively.
In 2009 I became the Director of the Dance Program at Princeton University's Lewis Center for the Arts. This work is one of the greatest pleasures of my long experience in dance.
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Related posts:
Building a Dance Company: On the Topic of Educational Programming
Speaking as a Teaching Artist: Thirty Perspectives
Blog Series: Becoming a Teaching Artist
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