CV

2020-present    Doctor of Philosophy in Dance, Texas Woman’s University, Denton, TX

Dissertation (in progress): “The Experience of Dance in Building Community for Social Change.” Advisor: Dr. Adesola Akinleye

2015      Master of Arts in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Theatre Culture,         University of Michigan-Flint, Flint, MI. Summa Cum Laude.

Thesis: “Intersections of Anna and Lawrence Halprin’s Collective Creativity: Using Site-Specific Dance to Engage Post-Industrial Flint with Riverbank Park.” Advisor: Dr. Lauren Friesen

2011      Bachelor of Arts in English, specialization in writing, University of Michigan Flint

2011     Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, University of Michigan-Flint, Flint, MI

2011     Dance Minor, University of Michigan-Flint, Flint, MI

 

ACADEMIC TEACHING

Aug 2023-2024    Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance, Division of Dance, Alma College, Alma, MI

• Dance Pedagogy
• Dance Criticism
• Dance Fundamentals
• Modern Dance II/III
• Alma College Dance Company

January 2012-present    Collegiate Lecturer II, Department of Fine and Performing Arts, University of Michigan-Flint, Flint, MI

• Taught 24 courses over thirteen years
• Created 15 original choreographed dances for 10 main stage productions
• Created three community-based projects with students and senior adults with disabilities
• Member of Big Table Advisory Committee for the Inclusive History Project
• Advisor for 10 years to Student Dance Organization
• Advisor for the Student Choreographic Showcase
• Advisor for three Undergraduate Research Opportunity internships working with incarcerated youth
• Advisor to four student papers presented at the Student Research Conference
• Faculty Representative seven years, American College Dance Association Conference (ACDA)
• Presented four adjudicated works of choreography at ACDA, East-Central Region
• Taught two master class workshops in Giordano jazz at ACDA, East-Central Region   

 

COURSES TAUGHT AT UM-FLINT

• ADM 527: Cultivating Communities of Belonging
• ADM 599: DEI in Arts Administration
• DAN 100: Introduction to Dance
• DAN 119: Ballet I
• DAN 219: Ballet II
• DAN 116: Modern I
• DAN 216: Modern II
• DAN 316: Modern III
• DAN 130: Jazz I
• DAN 230: Jazz II
• DAN 140: Tap I
• DAN 240: Tap II
• DAN 150: Hip Hop Dance
• DAN 151: Hip Hop Dance Culture
• DAN 200: Dance Ensemble
• DAN 201: Conditioning
• DAN 204: Dance in World Cultures
• DAN 226: Performance Studies
• DAN 305: Dance with the Community
• DAN 400: Advanced Dance Ensemble
• HON 156/356: Discovery Seminar II – Community Arts and Social Change
• THE 150: From Page to Stage: Interpreting the Script
• UNV 100: Let’s Go Arts
• UNV 100: Dancing in the Streets

 

CURRICULUM DESIGN AND COURSE CREATION

• Created new course for MA in Arts Administration: ADM 527 Cultivating Communities of Belonging
• Created new course for Honors Program: HON 156/356 Community Arts and Social Change, 2024
• Contributor, TEAGLE Foundation certificates, Envisioning Just Worlds, Building Sustainable Worlds, 2022
• Co-creator, Mellon Foundation First Year Experience course: UNV 100 Dancing in the Streets 2022-2023
• Co-leader, Arts Initiative + Curriculum Project: Unlocking the Arts in Flint, 2022-2023
• Co-leader, curriculum over-haul of Dance Minor, 2022
• Created new course for General Education, Fine Arts: Intro to Dance and Social Justice, 2022
• Created new course for General Education, US Diversity studies: Hip Hop Dance Culture, 2021
• Created new course for BA Dance: Dance with the Community, 2020

 

COMMUNITY-BASED DANCE

2024 – present Executive Director, Detroit Dance Collective, Detroit, MI

2014-present        Dance Teaching Artist, Youth Arts: Unlocked, Flint, MI

• Develop a gender-based dance curriculum for incarcerated girls
• Teach a weekly dance class that weaves women’s history (herstory) into the class
• Teach creative dance to the boys population when girls are not at the facility
• Developed three films to share the youth’s dance work with the public

2018-2021        Dance and Theater Instructor, El Ballet Folklórico Estudiantil, Flint, MI

• Performed traditional dance from Jalisco and Veracruz with the dance company
• Directed and choreographed bi-lingual production, Cenicienta: A Quinceañera with a taste of Cinderella

2018-2020            Artist-in-Residence, Very Special Arts-Michigan, Flint, MI

• Developed dance curriculum and taught students with Autism Syndrome Disorder, Down Syndrome Disorder, and visual impairments in tandem with classroom learning

2015-2018            Outreach Dance Faculty, Flint School of Performing Arts, Flint, MI

• Taught community dance for senior adults, adults with disabilities, families in residential treatment

2013-2015            Program Facilitator, Shop Floor Theatre Company, Flint, MI

• Artist-in-residence for two years at Beecher High School, 9th grade
• Part of team that developed student-centered projects in music videos, short plays, and an original theatre production titled, Making It

 

PUBLICATIONS

Journal Article

2016                     “Site-Specific Performance as Community Engagement at Flint’s Riverbank Park.” Infinite Mile journal of art + culture(s) in Detroit, vol. 3, no. 30, July/August 2016, pp. 330-339.

Book Chapter

2016                     “A People’s Park,” Happy Anyway: A Flint Anthology, edited by Scott Atkinson, Belt Publishing, pp. 170-180.

Conference Papers & Presentations

2021                    “Community Dance in Higher Education: Student Achievement, Retention, and Career Preparation.” National Dance Education Organization Conference.

2021                    “Now With Home: A Co-Performative Praxis.” with Nathan Andary, Juliana Azoubel, Julie Fox, Nathalie Jonas, and Meredith Lyons. Dance Studies Association, Virtual Conference. Roundtable.

2021                    “Tik Tok Dance Time with YouthArts: Unlocked.” Justice Arts Coalition, Virtual Conference. Workshop.

2019                     “Dancing for Justice: Unlocking the Stories of Incarcerated Girls.” Dance Studies Association, Northwestern University, Evanston, OH. Paper Presentation.

2016                    “Deepening Student Understanding in Community Based Learning Courses Through Multi-Modal Reflective Practice.” Lilly Conference, Traverse City, MI. Presentation.

2016                     “Site-Specific Dance as Civic Engagement at Flint’s Riverbank Park.” Imagining America, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI. Paper Presentation.

2015                     “Arts in Detention: A Collaborative Approach.” Michigan Sociological Conference, University of Michigan-Flint, Flint, MI. Presentation.

2015                     “Arts in Detention: A Collaborative Approach.” Eastern Region Campus Compact Conference, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ. Presentation.

2014                     “Intersections of Dance and Poetry in Post Industrial Michigan.” Society of Dance History Scholars/Congress on Research in Dance Combined Conference, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA. Paper Presentation.

2012                     “Meet the Flintstones: A New Generation of Community Dance Artists Renews a City Given Up For Loss.” with Dr. Elizabeth Kattner, Society of Dance History Scholars Conference, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA. Paper Presentation.

 

CHOREOGRAPHY

2025                 Sincerely, premiere at Collage Dance Concert, Detroit Dance Collective (DDCdances), YMCA Boll Theater, Detroit, MI

2023                     On Being, premiere at Rendezvous Dance Concert, Detroit Dance Collective (DDCdances), YMCA Boll Theater, Detroit, MI

2022                     Tunde Olaniran: Made a Universe (film), premiere at Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI

2022                     What You Pay Attention to Grows, premiere at 40th Anniversary Dance Concert, Detroit Dance Collective (DDCdances), YMCA Boll Theater, Detroit, MI

2022                     Affirmations, premiere at Spring Dance Concert, University of Michigan-Flint

2021                     Liminal Terrain (film), premiere at Spring Dance Concert, University of Michigan-Flint

2019                     No Planet B, premiere at Fall Dance Concert, University of Michigan-Flint

2019                    Club Quest, premiere at Spring Dance Concert, University of Michigan-Flint

2018                    Immortals, premiere at Spring Dance Concert, University of Michigan-Flint

2018                    Essence, premiere at Capital Campaign Fundraiser, University of Michigan-Flint

2017                    In Healing We Trust, a collaboration with visual artists from Vista drop-in center for adults with disabilities, premiere at Spring Dance Concert, University of Michigan-Flint

2017                    Ablution: A Washing Away, a collaboration with choreographer Beth Freiman, premiere at Global Water Dances, Flint, MI

2016                    Precipitate, a collaboration with Vista drop-in center for adults with disabilities reflecting on the Flint Water Crisis, premiere at Spring Dance Concert, University of Michigan-Flint

2015                    Riverbank Park: A Beautiful Future, site-specific work at Riverbank Park, Flint, MI, in cooperation with the Flint River Corridor Alliance and University of Michigan Arts of Citizenship Program in Public Scholarship

2015                     We Are, collaboration with Youth Arts: Unlocked, premiere at Spring Dance Concert, University of Michigan-Flint

2014                    The Feminine Mystique, premiere at American College Dance Association, East-Central Region, Ohio University, Athens, OH

2014                    Free to Be, premiere at Spring Dance Concert, University of Michigan-Flint

2013                    Abstract Expressionism, premiere at Spring Dance Concert, University of Michigan-Flint

2013                    Moving Sculptures, premiere at Spring Dance Concert, University of Michigan-Flint

2013                    Femme Façade, premiere at American College Dance Association, East Central Region, Oakland University, Rochester, MI

 

DANCE PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCE

2018-present        Company Member, Detroit Dance Colletive, Detroit, MI

2011-present        Back-up Dancer, Tunde Olaniran, Flint, MI

2018-2021        Company Member, El Ballet Folklórico Estudiantil, Flint, MI

2012 – 2015         Founder and Director, Flint Dance Collaborative, Flint, MI

2012                     Company Member, Ann Arbor Dance Works, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

2011 – 2012         Company Member, Vertical Ambition Dance Company, Flint

 

FELLOWSHIPS

2025                  LEO Organizing Fellowship, Lecturers’ Employee Organization (AFT Local 6244), University Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

2020                     Artist Residency with Tunde Olaniran, Education and Community Engagement, University Musical Society, Ann Arbor, MI

2018 + 2019          Jubilation Foundation Artist Fellow, Seattle, WA

2015                     King-Chávez-Parks Future Faculty Fellowship, State of Michigan

2015                     Engaged Pedagogy Initiative Fellow, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

 

GRANTS & AWARDS

2025

• Collegiate Lecturer Award, $5,000, University of Michigan-Flint, Flint, MI
• Arts Initiative Support Grant, $13,500, Arts Initiative, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (project: Sharing Our Stories Through Dance)
• Project Support Grant, $5,000, Arts Initiative, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (project: Flint Dances)
• Inclusive History Project Teaching Fund Award, $4,000, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (project: Cultivating Communities of Belonging)
• Engaged Learning Faculty/Staff Grant, $1,500, Office of Engaged Learning, University of Michigan Flint, Flint, MI (project: Sofa Stories Detroit)

2024

• Artist-in-Residence Grant, $25,000, Arts Initiative, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (project: unBOUNDARY)
• Arts Grant, $15,000, Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan, Detroit, MI (project: Detroit Dance Collective 45th Season)
• GiG Grant Award, $3,500, Arts Midwest, Minneapolis, MN (project: Vista Center Inner Harmony

2023

• Arts Initiative Arts + Resistance Theme Semester Award, $25,000, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (project: Dancing in the Streets Festival)

2022

• Arts Initiative Arts + Curriculum Award, $18,000, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (project: Unlocking the Arts in Flint)

2021

• Mellon Foundation Course Grant, $34,000, University of Michigan-Flint with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (new course: Dancing in the Streets course)

2020

• Arts Projects Minigrant, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, State of Michigan

2019

• Arts Projects Minigrant, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, State of Michigan

2018

• Professional Development, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs

2017

• Innovation in Teaching Award, 2nd Place, University of Michigan-Flint
• Community Impact Fund, Office of the Provost, University of Michigan-Flint
• Civic Engagement Course Implementation Grant, Office of Outreach, University of Michigan-Flint
• Professional Development, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs
• Professional Development, Lecturer’s Union, University of Michigan-Flint
• New Leaders Arts Council of Michigan Grant Program, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, State of Michigan

2015

• Arts of Citizenship Graduate Student Grant in Public Scholarship, $8,000, Rackham Graduate School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
• Rackham Fellowship, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
• Colonel T.B.W Stockton Scholarship, University of Michigan-Flint, Flint, MI
• Dean’s Scholarship, University of Michigan-Flint, Flint, MI
• Share Art Flint Grant, Greater Flint Arts Council, Flint, MI
• New Leaders Arts Council of Michigan Grant Program, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, State of Michigan

2014

• Share Art Flint Grant, Greater Flint Arts Council, Flint, MI

2009

• First Place in Multimedia Reporting, College Division, Better Newspaper Contest, Michigan Press Association

 

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

2023                  Dance Exchange’s Organizing with Artists for Change Initiative Climate Institute, Takoma Park, MD

2017 – 2019               Nan Giordano Teacher Certification Program. Certified to teach Giordano Jazz levels basic, beginning, intermediate, and advanced.

2019                           Bill Evans Somatic Dance Conference, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY. Performed, “HEaR Me,” with DDCdances in Concert III

2018 & 2017              Dance Educators Workshop, American Dance Festival, Durham, NC. Liz Lerman, Gerri Houlihan, Leah Cox, Christian von Howard

2016 & 2013               Anna Halprin Life/Art Process 5-day Summer Workshop, Mountain Home Studio, Mt. Tamalpais, San Francisco, CA

2015                           Institute for Social Change, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

2013                           Peter Kyle Dance, Slow tempo 3-day workshop, Flint Youth Theatre, Flint, MI

 

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

2025-present Advisory Committee, Inclusive History Project, University of Michigan

2017 – present            Dance Studies Association

2017 – 2021                Michigan Dance Council, Former Board Member

2015 – 2017                Congress on Research in Dance

2014 – 2018                Buckham Fine Arts Gallery, Flint, MI

2012 – 2017                Society of Dance History Scholars

2011 – 2013                Flint Institute of Arts Education Committee

2010                            Sigma Tau Delta International English Honor Society