Antiracist Afrodiasporic Dance Educator Choreographer + Lecturer + Coach
Private 1:1 Virtual Dance Coaching
Lectures
Principle-Centered Teaching
Give Props to Hip Hop: Honoring the Culture Respectfully
Give Props to Hip Hop: Honoring the Culture Respectfully
Teaching with integrity and purpose requires an unwavering sense of principle. Considering the social injustices that plague marginalized people inside and outside the dance studio, teachers have a responsibility to evaluate how they create learning spaces that foster growth and transformation. This lecture will walk participants through the process of aligning teaching and learning practices with the core values that form an individual’s outlook on humanity. An antiracist lens will be applied to this dance pedagogy, with an emphasis on connecting individual core values with teaching techniques that honor Afrodiasporic tradition.
Give Props to Hip Hop: Honoring the Culture Respectfully
Give Props to Hip Hop: Honoring the Culture Respectfully
Give Props to Hip Hop: Honoring the Culture Respectfully
"Afrika Bambaataa said hip hop is a culture about peace, love, unity, and having fun.
But when that peace, love, unity, and fun excludes black people, silences black voices, and undermines the black experience, it is NO LONGER accessible to you.
Black lives HAVE to matter, or else hip hop is NOT for you."
My Work
New Bridges Elementary
New Bridges Elementary
New Bridges Elementary
I teach dance to grades K-5 at PS 532 New Bridges Elementary School in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. My students learn technique and choreography in hip hop, step, jazz, and modern dance and perform in two Arts Festivals each year. My students learn to celebrate their culture, to respect the cultures of others, and to operate free of judgment and bias as creative people in our society. An antiracist and antibias lens is applied to all of my work, even with my youngest students.
I frequently collaborate with our music teacher, Alice Tsui, on projects combining dance with vocal and instrumental music in creative ways. Most recently, I have also collaborated with Camille A. Brown & Dancers' Every Body Move and Black Girl Spectrum programs to provide supplemental after school dance programming for students from 1st to 5th grades.
Studio Classes
New Bridges Elementary
New Bridges Elementary
My class focuses on grooves, the essential connecting factor and heartbeat of hip hop dance.
From 2017-2020, I taught weekly Beginner Hip Hop Foundations classes at House of Movement. The class operated on a 5-week rotation based on the basic grooves of hip hop: down groove, up groove, bounce groove, and the Jack, with Week 5 as a wildcard or texture study week.
In 2021, I began teaching open level Street Styles Choreography at Modega, incorporating hip hop, popping, house, and litefeet techniques into my routines. I began my 90s and 2000s Hip Hop Grooves class in March 2022, and since then the class has become one of the studios most successful yet. The class alternates between a Beginner and Advanced Beginner Level, using the same piece of choreography both weeks but taught according to the appropriate level.
In 2022, I began teaching at NXGN West New York, the newest studio run by Cebo and Shinobou Carr. My Basics class runs like a personalized training session for all students, including drills, specialized tips, and skill building, while my Beginner Hip Hop Choreography class gives students a chance to practice those skills with essential hip hop vocabulary, fluid transitions, and musicality.
Finally, I began teaching at Mark Morris Dance Center in September 2022. This class introduces students to grooves, rhythms, textures, pathways, and movement vocabulary in Hip Hop, street styles, and club styles of Afrodiasporic dance. Steps from the 80's, 90's, and 00's are infused with popular music and movement into a routine that is taught two weeks in a row, allowing students to work on timing, retention, fluidity, and performance.
Competitive Dance
New Bridges Elementary
Freelance Choreography & Creative Direction
I am Managing Director & Choreographer for Mint Dance Company. Since joining the team in 2015, Mint has received a variety of awards in competitions across the East Coast under my direction. We most recently placed 2nd at Reign or Shine Dance Competition and 3rd at Prelude East Coast Urban Dance Competition with our set, a one song set featuring Ballin Flossin by Chance The Rapper ft. Shawn Mendes, intermixed with the original song it samples, I Wanna Be Down by Brandy. Other awards have included 2nd Place at SAYAW Dance Competition at Stony Brook, 2nd Place at NGroove in Connecticut, and Best Theme at L.O.V.E. Dance Competition in Philadelphia.
In 2022, I judged my first competition, the BOOM Dance Comp at the College of Mount St. Vincent in the Bronx alongside Kelly Peters of GenX and BrickHouse.
Freelance Choreography & Creative Direction
Freelance Choreography & Creative Direction
Freelance Choreography & Creative Direction
I freelance choreograph and creative direct music videos, events, and theater productions. Recent choreography credits include "Do It For Corn Pop," "Creeper, Aw Man", and "OBAMA OUT" by The Gregory Brothers, "Secret" by Tropic, "By Summer,""Didn't I," "Melt," and "Human Nature" by Garth, and live performances of Cristal Marie's "Anime Girl." In 2016, choreographed the off-Broadway production Bridget Bishop Presents: The Salem Bitch Trials featuring RuPaul's Drag Race alum Brita Filter, Miz Cracker, and Monét Xchange.
Live Performance
Freelance Choreography & Creative Direction
Live Performance
In addition to Mint, I have performed with and choreographed for several exhibition teams in the NYC circuit, including Serendipity Dance Troupe, The Blacksons, and Turnstyles Dance. I have choreographed and performed in my own sets for The Jam Dance Showcase and RAW Artists NYC. I recently choreographed for Latina pop artist Cristal Marie's new single "Anime Girl" and performed for her at Into The Robot Live at the YouTube Space NY.
Video Projects
Freelance Choreography & Creative Direction
Live Performance
I take pride in creating video projects that pay homage to artists who inspire me or provide opportunities to dancers I respect. My two most recent projects include a collaboration with Boat & Bridge entitled "JANET" and a combined workshop plus concept video shoot I conducted featuring "Smile" by 808ink. I was also featured in a concept video by The Blacksons celebrating Black History Month entitled "For Us By Us."