My work is a blend of theoretical & embodied research, merging the lenses of critical theories with the making & doing of dance. I grapple with navigating my relationship to self, other, & the constructed contexts in which I exist, pursuing impossible tasks & unanswerable questions. I use process & performance to encourage radical self-awareness, disruption of assumptions, & generous relationality. I believe in bringing my whole self to each artistic & creative endeavor. I am motivated to find ways to use the act of making to embrace my whole self & the whole selves of collaborators, taking care to not silo off parts we or others assume don’t belong. I care about research that stems from relationships, self-awareness, sustainability, vulnerability, brutal honestly, authenticity, hard conversations, humor, irony, & sometimes even self-deprecation; research that is committed to investigating the question of how my humanity informs how I literally move through and navigate the world.
keywords
Critical Race Theory; Critical Pedagogy; Embodied Knowledge and Histories; Collaborative Compositional Strategies; Critical Dance History; Movement Technique (Hip-hop, Jazz, Musical Theater, Contemporary); Critical Awareness of Positionality; Relationality; Endurance in Discomfort; Survival Strategies
Teaching
courses taught
THTR 3011 - American Musical Theatre History
Primary Instructor
-
Spring 2024
This course investigates diversity in American musical theatre through the disciplinary frameworks of critical race theory, intersectional feminism, the American Myth, Jewish and LGBTQIA+ theories, and music and performance theory. In addition to increasing students� knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of this uniquely American art form, this course encourages students to examine larger historical and/or political events and movements through the lens of the reception and development of musicals in a given time period. Recommended prerequisite: 3 credits in THTR, DNCE or MUSC.
