teaching

I believe that theatre – as an inherently living art form – provides one of the best platforms for learning from one another’s experiences.

Feminist author and scholar bell hooks calls education “a practice of liberation.” As a teaching artist, I strive to use performance as a liberation tool. Embodied exercises become an entrypoint for students’ cooperation, creativity and critical thinking. I’ve found that performance approaches – games, creative movement, storytelling and role-playing – can be applied to almost any subject matter, and are compelling for all types of learners and age ranges.  They also provide a shared context for deep, meaningful discussion.

Subjects I’ve Taught:

•  Literacy-Based Workshops
•  Shakespeare
•  Acting
•  Ensemble Play Creation
•  Foundational Puppetry & Puppet Survey (Found Puppetry, Hand Puppetry & Shadow Puppetry)
•  Puppet Making
•  Mask Making and Performance
•  Toy Theatre
•  Peacemaking
•  Social Justice Theatre for Kids
•  Theatre of the Oppressed (Various Topics)

Organizations I’ve Worked With:

• Central Touring Theater, St. Paul, MN (teaching assistant-intern)
• Soweto Kliptown Youth Center, Johannesburg South Africa (guest artist)
• Louverture Cleary School, Porte-au-Prince Haiti (artist-in-residence)
• Byron Public Schools, Byron MN (artist-in-residence)
• SteppingStone Theatre for Youth, St Paul MN (teaching artist fellow)
• Augsburg College, Minneapolis MN (workshop facilitator)
• EDIT, Minneapolis MN (‘Awareness for Performance,’ coordinator & instructor)

I am available for workshops, residencies and classes on a freelance basis! Please contact me for more information.