We Do What We Are
As a performer, educator, and choreographer, the philosophy at the core of everything I do in dance is that dance is necessarily a reflection of the self. In dance, one’s own body serves as artist, medium, and product, so the self is an inextricable part of dance and must be treated as such. We dance who we are, synthesizing our life experiences, physical bodies, and intellects into a uniquely individual form of art.
This fundamental theory carries through my own performance, my approach to dance education, and my choreography. As a performer, I do my utmost to bring myself into my work, letting my personal history and dancing body inform the dance, whether as a soloist or part of an ensemble. In education, it is vital to me that young dancers are taught to recognize their singular strengths and embrace them, while also ensuring that they never feel pressured to be somebody that they are not, whether in their physical bodies, their ways of moving, or their modes of expression. In my choreography, I honor my own aesthetic sensibilities and affinities, while also working collaboratively with dancers on whom I am setting work to ensure that the movement feels true to them as well.
