SARAH TAYLOR

         

 

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY 

 

            As a dance educator, I strive to be a leader of the next generation of dancers. I work to foster a love and dedication for the arts as well as a strong work ethic that can support every aspect of life, and ultimately lead to the development of well rounded individuals. 

           I believe that in order to establish a strong dedication and a passionate work ethic in my students, I must first make my expectations clear. I believe that students work best under a strict and competitive environment along with encouragement and congeniality. Under these circumstances, a student can set their expectations high for themselves while staying optimistic throughout their training. 

         I place emphasis on positive reinforcement and working with the student as a team. Through dance, I cultivate independent thinking as well as a strong ability for collaboration. I believe that collaboratively helping the student allows the student to gain their own voice through discourse and conversation. Through having a conversation with a student, the solutions are no longer a one sided answer, but instead formulated with the direct input from the individual. Through using positive enforcement, the student responds with confidence and with the desire to attack different challenging steps. By having positivity in the back of their mind, the student responds more accurately to corrections due to the encouragement given to them.

        In the classroom, I help my students independently approach problems. As artists, we are often faced with issues that necessitate a unique approach to them. By providing a challenging class, either technically, mentally, or both— my students develop the ability to problem solve. I strive to develop creative and challenging exercises that foster students’ innovation and desire to personally contribute to the dance world.

         My training and performance experience is broad. Having been trained in the Royal Academy of Dance examinations, Balanchine and Bournonville styles, I want to familiarize my students with the successes and drawbacks of different styles. I believe that through becoming well versed in a variety of styles, students become well rounded dancers, ultimately making them more competitive in the field, and leading to greater chances at succeeding in the dance field by strengthening different parts of their technique.

         In the studio, I maintain high energy and enthusiasm and give constructive corrections to every student. I believe attention should be equally spread throughout the classroom to allow for equal amounts of improvement and growth. The most success in students comes from having a  love of dance first. I balance fun and humor along with respect and competitiveness in order to create a positive working environment. When giving corrections, repetition paralleled with the use of different imageries and words allows the student to constantly think of improving their technique. Most importantly, a positive environment mixed with constructive criticism establishes the best fusion for the students’ improvement. 

         As a teacher, I work to establish an appreciation and love of dance in my students that can be shared within the community. Its important to me that my students understand the importance of dance within society and grow to support the arts as they become the next generation of contributors. I foster this support through exposing different aspects of arts and culture in the classroom. I believe it is my duty as an educator to provide students with a love of the field in order to support the continuing growth and support of dance in the world.