I am a San Francisco based interdisciplinary artist, educator and scholar who is committed to dance as a vital practice of community and cultural exchange.

For me, dance is a life practice. A practice of focus, purpose, and radical joy. My creative process organizes community engagement and critical discourse into community programs, classes, workshops, lectures, performances, films, and articles. My choreographic work blends stylistic elements of contemporary ballet, dance theatre, and camp. I make work that matters to me, on topics that directly affect my life and my community, and that represent the life and times I live in.

As a versatile marketing & development professional, I excel in strategic planning, community engagement, and fundraising for non-profit arts organizations.

artist philosophy

I consider the study of dance to be a life practice that can enrich a human being far beyond technical prowess. Dance teaches us to think critically and sense deeply. Dance offers a way in, and a way out. Dancing, in its many forms, provides a medium through which to consider impossible truths. To riff off of the words of author Cheryl Strayed, to dance is to hold the empty bowls eternally in our hands, and to fill them over and over again.

Dance also teaches us about world cultures and histories. Dance enables us to experience the self viscerally, and to form and re-form identity. Dance brings people together, and connects us in ways that shatter boundaries and force us to reevaluate differences. As my mentor, Dr. Kimerer LaMothe, says, “To dance is a radical act.” Dancing offers a corporal experience of liberation and control, an investigation of truth and terror, and an opportunity for invention and renewal.

This is why I believe dance is a gateway for social change. What is change, if not movement? Social movementsare transformative. Dance offers a way forward and through. It gives us hope. It affirms our bodies and makes us feel alive.

When we feel alive, the world becomes our stage, and we begin…

teaching philosophy

“The qualities we admire in great dancing are the same qualities we admire in human beings: honesty, courage, fearlessness, generosity, wisdom, depth, compassion, and humanity.” – Alonzo King

My teaching philosophy is rooted in the encouragement of curiosity, wonder, and problem-solving as a class. Inspired by the progressive pedagogical theories of John Dewey and Paolo Freire, I believe that learning is most effective when we have space to practice self-determination.

I demonstrate class combinations fully and have high standards for technical proficiency. I am most interested in self-discovery and critical discourse vis a vis dance. 

I am practiced in teaching groups with mixed abilities, and am sensitive to creating options for students to access class material in a way that is accessible and culturally relevant.

I believe that learning is achieved through devoted practice and commitment to the craft. Over time, authenticity shines through. We develop trust in our ideas and the movements we make, giving us agency to be who we truly are. We practice freedom by practicing dance.

I believe my job as a dance teacher is to inspire passion for the learning process, to create challenging combinations that exercise clear technical principles, and to support students as they work towards excellence in their chosen field.