Examples of Teaching Excellence
From “Student Perspectives of Teaching” comments on Appreciation of Dance.
Students in Choreography and Composition.
“I want to continue viewing dances through their particular style, not trying to force ballet techniques on styles that don’t incorporate them....My mindset and awareness of the history of Jazz Dance has been transformed.”
“Now that the semester is coming to a close, I realize that in the last four years of my undergraduate career, I had yet to enjoy a class as much as I did [this one]. I was able to see myself transform from an anxious 21-year old who possessed a “left-brained”, analytical mentality to a slightly less anxious 21-year old with new found passion for musical theatre and dance. I intend to take this mindset with me as I embark on my post-graduation career and I thank you for a great semester!”
“I always came out of class going- I’m glad I came.”
A student in Movement for Actors 2.
“It gave me an appreciation of dance again. I think I’ve kind of been losing my love and interest of dance and it was nice to be able to get myself back into that. ”
Students in Int/Adv Modern
Midterm reflections from World History of Dance:
"This dance class, I have been the most engaged and learned the most out of any other dance class I’ve taken at the university."
"What this has made me realize about the world around me is that there is a lot more information about culture and people than what is taught in traditional history courses. This realization has taught me to seek out information and truth beyond what is merely taught to me."
"It’s been really, really cool to explore stuff outside of myself…."
"This class has been really awesome to teach me more about the world beyond the US and dance beyond the US …and maybe France…"
"So far, this course has taught me a lot more than I expected about where dance comes from. I'll admit I was a little naive when I thought ballet was the origin of all dance. I've learned that dance goes back much further, to places like ancient Egypt and India, where it was tied to religion, ritual, and community. Working on my midterm about dance and politics also showed me that dance is connected to history and power. It has been used to resist, to protest, and even to represent countries."
"My knowledge and experience has already grown vastly during this first half of the semester, teaching me about history that I didn't know before (both religious history and western colonization). I still have questions about contemporary in comparison to modern dance and would like to dive deep into this topic."
"Before this class, I feel like my dancing perspective was very narrow. Now I see it in a bigger light, ritual, worship, record-keeping."
"It was interesting to see how much history tends to reflect on modern day dance… This is not necessarily a good thing. It
was surprising to see how much discourse and disrespect people endured across different cultures when in the discussion of dance. Also, it was so bizarre to discover how much exclusion also occurred. Whether it was the fact that only a certain gender could perform or only those of higher stature/ education. All of this tends to reflect on the dance that we have today, which unfortunately not many people realize."
"When we learned about the historical backgrounds of dances, I realized how connected everything is."
"I feel like talking to different people and hearing their opinions makes the class more interesting because everyone sees dance differently and I probably wouldn't have thought about certain things without them."
"I would definitely continue the group discussions and activities because they make the class feel more social and less like a typical lecture. I also like that everyone feels comfortable participating even if they aren't necessarily good dancers."
Dance Teachers in “The Ethics of Teaching with(out) Touch” at NDEO Summer 2023.
“I am a big fan of your work! Thank you for sharing your work on consent, intimacy and touch, and ungrading. What you are doing is the key to future dance education. Gratitude for what you do!”
Dance Teachers in “The Ethics of Teaching with(out) Touch at NDEO Summer 2024.
“...to sum it up, I feel much more prepared on the topic of consent/touch, have many more tools to work with, have resources to revisit, and I have goals going forward to work into my courses and full program.
Nicole was an excellent teacher!
The course was organized is such a way to create true scaffolded learning and discovering, with meaningful connection and work with fellow students/peers, and very helpful feedback from the instructor. ”
“...they [my students] are already benefitting from this professional development....
I feel very confident after this course....”
Concept Maps Created by the Small Groups on the Final Day of Dance Appreciation Fall 23 to Demonstrate their Take-Aways.
The Cucumber Group created a piece based off of the artwork to the right. The assignment asked students of Dance Appreciation to work together to create a piece using the Elements of Dance and Choreographic Structures studied in class as part of our Dance as Performance unit.
The Lime and Grapefruit groups both choose this piece of artwork for their pieces.
From students in Choreography and Composition.
For Dance Appreciation’s “If Cities Could Dance” activity, Pineapple choose, researched, and performed the hula. Other choices were Bomba, House, and Beat Ya Feet.
Alexa discusses her art.
From “Student Perspectives on Teaching” comments on Appreciation of Dance.
A student in Ballet 2, Jazz 1, Choreography and Composition, and Opera Dance Workshop.
From students in Movement for Actors 2.
A student in Choreography and Composition.
“At the beginning of the second half of the semester, I set 5 new goals for myself. I feel like those goals helped me build character and a sense of love for myself. My peers and my professor made me feel especially successful this semester through all my efforts. I have learned to reach inside my mind and creativity and use them towards expressing a message. ”
From students in Movement for Actors 2
Students in Choreography and Composition.
From “Student Perceptions of Teaching” evaluation for Appreciation of Dance.
From “Student Perspectives of Teaching” comments on Appreciation of Dance.
The above comments were from students in Jazz 1.
From students in Movement for Actors 2.
Students in Choreography and Composition.
From a former HS Drama student.
A former HS Dance student who became involved in musicals.
From another former HS Drama student. The photos to the right are her story referred to in this photo, about how HS Drama prepared her for vet school.
