My deepest motivation as a teacher is to provide an environment for my students to find comfort in movement as well as their self-confidence. I feel this is important because as a young dancer, I was constantly overanalyzing myself. This made it very difficult for me to progress and also became a detriment to my self-image. As I got older, I finally got out of my overbearing head and finally let myself flourish and grow through dance. My goal is to provide this sense of self-assuredness as a non-negotiable in my students' dance careers and allow them to thrive at a much younger age.  

As a teacher I want every student to feel empowered to take risks and make mistakes. To create this comfortability, I share my dance journey with my students as well as my everyday life. Sharing this humility shows them that even a dance professional has not always been confident in their own abilities and that it is a normal human emotion that does not define who you are both on and off the dance floor. I do this by being honest with them when I have had a bad day or am feeling not so great. In these times, using myself as an example to inform my students that when they are not feeling their best, they must listen to their body and give it what it needs whether that is a good long stretch, a snack, or most importantly rest.  

My goal is to instill confidence in them to fully commit to trying anything and everything that seems very difficult at first. As an instructor, I promote that it is okay if you do not master a skill easily the first time and that it does not define you or your talent. However, the only way that we can improve ourselves is by taking these risks. I tell my students that although I know having confidence is not easy, the hope is that I have more days of being proud of who I am than not. When my students leave the classroom each student walks out of my class feeling more secure in their beatifully unique skin. With this method of teaching, both my students and I are fulfilled inside and outside of the dance studio.