Dance

Duration: June 2023 – Onwards

I participated in New York City Center’s first Street Dance Ambassadors Program organized by Sarah Kutnowsky. This program was comprised of master classes by hip hop and street dance legends: Buddha Stretch, Chi-Chi Smith, Tatiana Desardouin, Michele Byrd McPhee, Ephrat Asherie, Adesola Osakalumi, and NSangou Njikam. This program also included panels on art and activism, teaching street dance, and hip-hop theater.

Duration: August 2019

I taught “Music and Dance as a Means of Expression” to high schoolers in Japan. Reach out for a copy of my self-designed syllabus.

I was excited for this role because I was able to travel to Japan! I have served as a teacher in a variety of capacities (teaching algebra to rising ninth graders, teaching swim lessons to children aged 1-12, and volunteering as a catechist for middle schoolers), but this was an opportunity to teach students whatever curriculum I wanted. I chose dance because I recently joined a dance group at Carleton College and loved learning new dance moves and performing at halftime games. Plus, I loved how dancing encouraged my own individual expression and creativity. I also knew that my Japanese language abilities were limited, so I wanted to teach a subject that could transcend language barriers while still engaging students. We learned the choreography from some iconic dances, analyzed and interpreted meaning and expression from music videos, and the last day, the students developed their own choreography for a 30 second music clip. It was a great experience!