DANIELLE GEORGIOU

As an interdisciplinary instructor of dance, humanities, and visual art, I have the distinctive opportunity to teach holistically, involving the body, mind, and soul. This allows me to uplift the uniqueness of all of my students.

 

The ultimate goal of teaching is to create learning that sticks—to create muscle memory and cognitive threads that we can access instinctively. But finding that pathway can be tricky. We get lost, we get bored, we leave. What is the spark needed to help us stay? For me, it means making learning fun, opening the classroom up to discovering the play in learning again, welcoming the silly into the room, and saying, “Mistakes are absolutely necessary here.” Because from those gaffes, we get one step closer to genius.

 

I work with each learner to help them find a way to grasp the material and love learning because it’s enjoyable.  My goal is that students will become perpetual, lifelong learners who are self-sufficient, independent artists who deeply understand their bodies, instruments, repertoire, and style.

 

To do so, I try to build rooms that are rooted in: 

• Material of Interest

• Material that is Pleasurable to Study

• Material that Challenges

• Embodied Practices (learning by teaching)

• Learning by Experience

 

More than that, I build rooms that are courageous spaces. I have spent much of my career working with diverse communities, strengthening my resolve and ability to work with those with varying amounts of physical training or specialized skills. My intention inside these communities and as an artist is to allow people to find themselves more fully through movement, embodied awareness, and playful investigations. I believe all movement practices and cultural expressions are of equal value, and I work diligently to eliminate hierarchical classifications between dance and performance styles. I have long been committed to diversity and recognize the barriers faced by women, people of color, the LGBTQIA+ community, and other minorities engaging in the field of dance and performance. I believe in creating a courageous space where students feel comfortable and receptive to understanding the art of performance. I accomplish this goal by providing various ways to approach learning about performance: physical, visual, auditory, sensory, or a combination. I access as many senses as possible to give students multiple ways to enter into dance and performance.

 

I am purposefully expanding the term “safe” or “brave” space to courageous space, as what is “safe” and what is “brave” changes for each of us at any given moment of the day. But if we can create a space that establishes and uplifts the five pillars of theatrical intimacy—context, consent, communication, choreography, and closure—we will have a space that fosters courageous work that leads to brave actions and safe environments.

 

I only know that I’ve created a “safe” space when my students are willing to take risks. By creating a courageous space, my students do not focus on the cracks in the sidewalk or the obstacles in the process but instead on the opportunities to excel and explore. In many ways, we confront failure by accepting its place in our process and saying, “Thank you. Tomorrow, I’ll fail even better,” and we laugh together in the process.

 

I cultivate courageous spaces through ensemble-building exercises, developing community agreements, a sense of creative play, and building environments where it is okay to fail, look silly, and experiment. Students are asked to extend bodily, mental, and emotional respect to each other and themselves. This results in an environment of learning, creativity, and expansion for all. I use many improvisational games from Meg Stuart and concepts from Anne Bogart and Tina Landau (Viewpoints) to create this energy.

 

I also provide a repeatable learning structure to help build the courageous space:

 

• Check-In: Helping the student to become present in the class and creating trust in the group.

• Warm-up: These exercises can be physical, mental, or emotional. They help the student to become ready for more challenging work.

• Exercise: This skill-building section will provide students with various tools for the modalities they are working with.

• Material: This is the practical application of techniques ranging from choreography to script work, video creation, and performance.

• Reinforcement: This is provided to help students evaluate their experience in the class and find ways to apply the work to their artistry and lives.

 

The work I’ve done for the past seventeen years has taught me so much about how to be a more effective teacher. I constantly learn about teaching through teaching. I’ve spent time reflecting, researching, and always remaining a student. A big part of my teaching philosophy is teaching by example—if you can do it, you can teach it; if you can teach it, you can do it. The best teachers are the ones who are lifelong students who are constantly training, learning, and bettering themselves and their techniques. That is what I am: a teacher-student, a student-teacher. I never want to lose the spark of learning, and I work to instill that concept and drive in my students.

 

Further, as a dance practitioner, I see myself as a facilitator and movement coach, empowering students to make their own discoveries and decisions while utilizing the tools they have studied and gathered during their academic journeys and outside experiences. Putting students first is paramount. I believe in the continued support of my students in and out of the classroom. 

I also believe in decolonizing contemporary dance practices and discovering ways to help decentralize the patriarchal classroom. This allows our foundation to grow from a broader performance canon that includes a variety of dance forms, experimental movement practices, performance art, and dance theatre, allowing students to experience the incredibly diverse nature of dance. Supported by my background in contemporary dance forms, I teach modern dance techniques, ballet with somatic elements, jazz, musical theatre, improvisation and experimental practices, choreography, and theory courses: Dance Appreciation, Dance for Camera, Choreographic Elements, Intimacy, and Movement for Actors.

 

In the humanities, I teach a course that explores the purposes and processes in the visual and performing arts and how they express the values of cultures and human experience. This course is focused on research and writing—learning how to critically discuss the implications of the arts on society and how they guide the human experience.

 

In the visual arts, I teach a course centered on appreciating visual arts in the everyday. Students develop a visual and aesthetic awareness of the visual arts’ theoretical, cultural, and historical impact through research and practice-based projects. I am moving a course traditionally about memorization away from the regurgitation of places, dates, and names to a course that produces original pieces of art that reflect who my students are, where they live, and how their experiences relate to historical moments in art.

 

Professionally, I am a theatrical director and choreographer, an intimacy and fight director for theatre, dance, opera, and film, and a visual and performance artist. Thus, my philosophy stems from my work and providing career-based opportunities for my students. Working in these interdisciplinary fields helps me recognize that I am a perpetual learner and must always strive to improve my abilities. I know that the best teachers never stop learning and continually collaborate with their peers and students. Because one day, the teacher will become the student, and that’s why these questions have always driven my teaching:

 

• What are we going to learn together today?

• What are we going to teach each other today?

• What are we going to create together today?