Artistic Mission

 

I am a dancer, instructor, choreographer, and student. My primary focus in dance is to create artistic freedom and a safe space to express emotion through movement. I use dance to express myself and also to allow others to find movement that expresses them in a way that words cannot. I am currently working on my undergraduate in Dance with a minor in Psychology from Dean College. I wish to continue on in my education, working on a MA in Dance therapy with the possibility of working toward a Doctorate in the field of psychology.

While in school, I take technical dance classes in addition to courses in the field of psychology and sociology. Utilizing my dance training I maintain a teaching position at a local dance studio. At the studio, I work with children of all ages in various genres of dance, primarily focusing on Jazz and Irish Step. I also work at a nursing home where I see a different side of life working with geriatric residents. I get to share my personal experience, love of life, and passions with everyone I encounter. Working with children as well as elders I can view the different thought processes in each individual I work with. I am inspired by the way they move, interact, and share stories about themselves and how this shaped their personalities and outlook on life.

Purpose

There is a demand for expressing a person’s mental health and emotions in a therapeutic setting using dance and movement as their outlet. For me, dance is not only about performing and improving on technique, dance goes further than the stage. On days that I feel tense, upset, or if just want to move, dance is the answer. Dance is a way to focus energy from stress out of the body and into movement. Dance is my exercise, dance is my hobby, but most importantly dance is my therapy. I want to focus my attention on using dance in a therapeutic setting with the use of movement to improve the mental and physical well-being of a person. This movement creates a connection between a person’s mind and body promoting health, healing, and expression of emotion.

Philosophy

I believe that dance has many meanings. Dance to most means to move rhythmically to music typically following a set sequence of steps. In my mind dance is comparable to therapy.  This meaning that dance follows the same format as therapy in which both concepts follow a sequence of steps to reach a conclusion, only therapeutically the objective is to heal and release emotional tension.

Dance is an art form that compels a person to use their mind and body simultaneously. Dance is a form of expression. Dance has molded cultures and history throughout history allowing them to connect with other cultures and unify people. Dance is an entity that is unlimited in the possibilities and can lead a person down many paths in life. Dance is a way of creating motor, cognitive, and social skills, enabling people to freely interpret what they see and what they do. Dance is many things and evokes different ideas for everyone. For me dance is healing, dance is change, dance is freedom of the soul.