Teaching Philosophy: The Tao of Dance
To cultivate students' growth as artists, I teach dance technique with context, emotion, and kinesthetic awareness by blending Eastern and Western art forms and philosophies. Many students come from a dance studio background that trains them how to move mechanically without a strong sense of internality or individuality. Students who learn dance by carbon-copying their instructors are unlikely to excel in the professional dance arena because they are unable to think beyond a limited movement vocabulary, and judge dance only by its ability to impress the audience through highly-skilled physical feats. To remedy this shortcoming, I incorporate Chinese Qi Gong holistic practices into my classes to help students personalize their movement and find their own artistic styles. “Qi” is the Chinese expression of life force; and “Gong” is the Chinese expression of work, or gaining skill through practice.
At the beginning of class, I conduct Qi Gong meditations to bring students into a "neutral mind." Students sit cross-legged with eyes closed as I instruct them to clear their minds as they take long, soothing breaths. I then lead them through an imagined landscape that includes include colors, smells, sounds, and animals. During this exploration, I ask them to consider their relationship with themselves, each other, and their overall environment. It is important for dancers to understand that they move with their surroundings, not only in them. Next, I blend Qi Gong movement with modern dance technique to begin the physical warm-up. While the dancers are still sitting, I lead them through slow, leaning movement so they can feel how gravity affects their body. Gravity is a key concept in several modern dance styles, and is also emphasized in conditioning forms like yoga and Pilates. For dancers to maximize their performance, they must know how to work with gravity. Finally, the Qi Gong warm-up builds until the dancers are in a standing position with neutral minds and positive energy, equally aware of their kinesthetic sensations and immediate surroundings, and ready to learn more complex movement.
I find that beginning classes with Qi Gong meditations and exercises helps dancers to stay focused throughout the class and to learn faster. In fact, I have noticed that after Qi Gong exercises, dancers remain lively and invested in their movement even while waiting on the sidelines for their turn to perform an across-the-floor exercise. Furthermore, when dancers are stressed because of their daily lives, they have less physical flexibility and balance. Therefore, while relaxing Qi Gong practice can benefit anyone, it is especially useful for dancers for the development of their artistry and performance abilities. Qi Gong practice helps dancers to be centered, and facilitates their realization of purposeful movement that comes from within.
Teaching dance is like leading a journey in which I provide a framework, but the students choose their own destinations regarding how they want to express themselves as artists. Throughout class, I encourage students' progress through positive verbal feedback, as well as critical questioning about their internal awareness such as, "What do you feel inside? Is there a story that goes with that movement?" If students are struggling with class material, I offer to meet with them outside of class and listen to their concerns, and give advice in the form of analogies and anecdotes. Oftentimes, I find that simply listening to students increases their comfort with the class, and breaks down inhibitions that prevent them from fully embodying movement. Another strategy I employ in class is peer-to-peer feedback, where students verbally reflect how a partner's performance of an exercise made them feel; this kind of feedback is more valuable than subjectively stating whether the movement was done correctly, as measured against the way I demonstrated the exercise. When students practice articulating what they see and feel, it helps them develop an eye for detail, which is essential for choreographing dances that are visually complex and make sense aesthetically and kinesthetically.
By blending Western contemporary dance technique with Qi Gong concepts and practices, my goal is to help students realize dance as a meaningful art based on both internal and external expression. Dance education requires not only technical mastery, but cognitive and emotional development. The unification of body and mind is a spiritual experience, enabling dancers to recognize they are more than a body devoid of context and meaning. Dancers' heightened awareness of their existence encourages imagination, acceptance of diverse perspective and approaches, profound commitment to movement and classroom communities, and connections between academia and everyday life.