Today we share ideas from teaching artists living in four different regions of the country. Click on any artist's name to read his/her full artist profile.
Samsam Yung
From Amy Chavasse (Ann Arbor, MI)
Restlessness and curiosity remain incentives for my practice as an educator, dance maker, performer and improviser. My practice, training, research and embrace of improvisation as a means to crafting choreography and as a performance, has led to radical shifts in my role as a teacher and mentor. Using improvisation in my classes has demanded that I develop new skills as a performer. The study and practice of improvisation has probably been the biggest influence in the ways I define my work as a teaching artist, choreographer and performer. This includes a consideration of language and the linguistic or etymological roots of words and phrases — I think that I’ve been influenced a lot by Peter Schmitz in this way.
From Gerri Houlihan (Durham, NC)
As I’ve said, teaching was part of my dance life from a very early age. I found myself teaching often during residencies with the Lar Lubovitch Company, and because of that I developed a wide network that provided numerous opportunities after I left the company. Because I was often so critical of myself as a young dancer, I spent a lot of time creating a positive and supportive environment in my class. I believe in celebrating my students' successes and making the classroom a safe place to explore and experiment. I have had the great good fortune to participate in about 18 international teaching residences for the American Dance Festival, where I’ve been able to serve as an ambassador for ADF. I have learned volumes about different cultures through my eight residencies in Korea, as well as shorter connections with dancers in such countries as Chile, Estonia and Mongolia. Each experience is unique and memorable. Teaching has been my passport to numerous extraordinary adventures.
From Rogelio Lopez (Oakland, CA)
The role of a teacher allows me to get inspired by the future generation of dancers. Also it makes me feel extremely satisfied to pass the little knowledge that I possess onto other dancers. The working etiquette that I expect from my students is a reflection of how I want to be as a professional dancer. Working with younger generations makes me appreciate working and dancing with my own and older generations because I get to witness the differences, the evolution, and the deeper understanding of movement qualities that comes from experience.
From Samsam Yung (Brooklyn, NY)
Structuring and delivering a class demands many of the same skills as choreographing and performing. I enjoy the craft. I enjoy sharing and seeing happy sweaty faces.
I quite like the term “teaching artist” as opposed to dance teacher. A dancer, a technician, a choreographer, a craftsman, these are jobs we can leave behind, and be, just a person on our days off. An artist is a 24/7 gig. Yes, most of the time we are teaching technique and craftsmanship, and rightly so. Sometimes the soul peaks through because that is what it does.
From Michelle Boule (New York, NY)
I love teaching. It has always taught me how to process my questions and find clarity, and more recently, just to ask questions. At one point, teaching became a way to process the things I was experiencing personally. How do I open my heart? How do I accept? How do I let myself go? These questions and this approach are all still in the room, but I think the body has in some ways become less and less “personal” to me. I’m enjoying what it gets to experience, being present with the change that is always happening.
There is an art to teaching…being able to listen to the energies in the room and guide them, finding ways to stay inspired and inspire. I just took a workshop with Sara Shelton Mann, and I had a brief chat with Beth Goren who was sitting on the side watching. She said that she had studied with Sara in the 70s and that she’s still the same! She said it seemed Sara had found her “life thrust.” I loved that. That feels like being a “teaching artist.”
------------------
Comments