Hometown: Dublin, CA
Current city: Alameda, CA
Age: 46
College and degree: Cal State University, Hayward - BA Theatre Arts, Dance Option
Graduate school and degree: Mills College - MFA, Performance and Choreography (age 39-41)
How you pay the bills: Full-time teaching position at Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward, California
All of the dance hats you wear: Choreographer, teacher, costume designer, department chair
Non-dance work you do or have done in the past: Food server, retail worker, part-time bank teller, admin. for a private medical office, grant researcher
------------------
Please describe your….
20s: Going to college, working 3 jobs at once to pay my way through college, getting married, having a beautiful baby boy.
30s: Out of college, negotiating work and being a single mom, working ⅕ in 5 places to stay true to my commitment to continue working in dance. Building a dance program, when I really had no idea how to build a dance program.
40s: Hmmm…feelings of deep growth and satisfaction. Finding the space to take a breath -- just one. The gratitude and pride of success, and learning that success also opens the path to new challenges. The joy of seeing my son become a young man -- the pride that is completely indescribable.
Major influences:
In teaching - Sherrie Barr at University of Oregon.
In building and keeping a dance program alive - Laura Renaud-Wilson at CSU, Hayward (now called CSU, East Bay)
In choreography - Molissa Fenley. But then Joe Goode and Pina Bausch were huge in terms of how I saw their work.
Angela with Jessica Ruth, Class of '17 Honors dancer
Can you talk about the upcoming school year? What will you be teaching? What non-dance classes, committees, advising, etc. do you work on at Moreau Catholic High School? What is new or evolving? What are you excited about?
I will be continuing as dance director and chair of the visual and performing arts department. I will also serve as one of two class moderators for the class of 2020.
I’m teaching level 2 (Concert Dance), 4 (Dance Ensemble 2) and 5 (Honors Dance), as well as Social Dance. I will choreograph the musical in the spring and oversee production crew for all performing arts.
Keeping the dance program alive and thriving is a neverending journey. This year I’m piloting an evening dance course. It is a full-year UC eligible dance course, like our others, but it will meet 2 nights a week. The idea is a response to the ever increasing graduation requirements placed on the students. It will allow students who cannot fit dance into the traditional school day to continue in the dance program.
I’m so excited to be a part of Teachers Righting History, an “educational project that highlights historic American women in classrooms across the country.” This is one of several “Righting History” projects led by former US Treasurer, and Moreau Catholic alumna, Rosie Rios. The Dance Ensemble and Honors dancers will be developing themes around women’s rights and the question/concern of equity/equality for all.
Are you performing and choreographing outside of Moreau this calendar year?
I have no set plans as of such; however, I am deeply blessed to have a core little group of dancers whom I have known forever, and who gently, but consistently, remind me to make work on them.
Current training practices:
I try to take class when I’m not in the thick of teaching. This is something I’m committing to this coming year, and my teaching schedule will allow it.
When I’m at my best, I get to school really early and give myself a barre or some floor work.
On the topic of caring for a teacher’s body:
That is a tough question. The answer seems obvious, right? Allow one’s self adequate time before and after teaching to warm up and cool down. The reality, at least for me, is that I have students in at 7 AM, so getting to school much before then takes more discipline than I can muster oftentimes -- it’s something I’m working on. That said, I do my best to make wise choices; I’m still working on that one, for sure. I am beyond excited to say that after years of dancing outside, in the gym, on carpet, on marley over plywood over concrete, the school installed a beautiful new sprung, pine wood dance floor in our studio. I am so grateful! This will certainly help.
What does the term “teaching artist” mean to you?
As department chair, I find myself saying these words frequently -- “All of our teachers are not only teachers, but artists in their own right.” I feel so proud to say this. I think it makes a huge difference to students that their instructors are out there still making work, writing about it, thinking about it, seeing it. It means we can truly relate to what students are going through. When they are lost, or stuck, or “hate their dance,” I can honestly say that I understand what they are experiencing, because I have been in that place.
Advice to dancers wanting to get into teaching at a high school:
Always challenge them, rather than thinking, “They are only high school students.” 99% of the time, they will rise to that challenge.
I struggle with people who tell kids or teenagers, “When you get to the ‘real world.'" What does that even mean? Where do these people think teens are living right now? This IS their real world. Maybe they don’t have mortgages to pay, but they are dealing with a far more competitive lifestyle than previous generations did at their age. I ask that if a student needs a break for a class, that they tell me. I don’t want to be the one sending them over the edge because I tell them that they are out of alignment one day.
How is teaching an act of social change?
We are impacting students' lives. The way we teach can shift a young person’s outlook. Encourage them to be proactive, to ask questions, to crave answers, to consider the small things, the big things, wow, just to understand that there is value in taking the time to consider.
Current inspiration, questions, and curiosities around dance:
My students inspire me. I mean, truly.
I feel like I am constantly trying to find the answer to others seeing the arts as a core subject.
--------
Related posts:
Artist Profile #91: Abby Fiat (Salt Lake City, UT)
A Modern Dancer's Guide to....the San Francisco Bay Area
My Dance Week: Teaching Full-Time in a K-12 School
Speaking as a Teaching Artist: 50 Perspectives
Blog Series: Becoming a Teaching Artist
---------------------------
Comments