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SeptEMBER was Fire – 2025 Month 9 & Quarter 3 Reflection

Autumn is upon us in Cologne and the swirling leaves are like sands through the hour glass of this year. In this article I wrap up the month of September and Quarter 3 of 2025 in my projects, life and events.

Many of these priority projects are part of my Twenty 25s, which I reflect on below, these being actions/habit/leading metric statistics of actions within my control. I take a peek at results and following metrics as relevant as well, such as students, clients, subscribers, followers, engagement, income, profit, and so forth. Then there are the special events, connections, and moments that make up the memories of a season.

Reflecting in this way provides inspiration and accountability.

September & Q3 Flip & Reflection – Creative Journal Video on YouTube

What do you do to reflect, review, and refresh quarterly or seasonally?

Smokin’ September

SeptEMBER brought the last gasp of Summer in Cologne and I basked in the warmth, as well as events such as:

  • Harvest Moon, Autumnal Equinox
  • Apples, Apple Cinnamon Muffins
  • Wear Flannel, Denim Jacket
  • Romantic Anniversary with Ela (and then her Dad’s 80th birthday celebration)
  • Oktoberfest at friends’
  • Orthopedist & MRI Appointments to solve the mystery of my hip pain, prescribed more Physical Therapy…
Blythe in a new unitard and ballet slippers for back-to-school

Back-to-School Spirit

Shared some of my favorite perennial resources in September:

Took a moment on the Autumn Equinox to wish all a happy seasonal transition

Creative Challenges

My creative process supports me through it all, not just financially since that is my profession, but as a Teaching Artist, Choreographer, Movement Educator & Coach, I get to explore my soul’s expression, my Being.

Primarily through dance & movement, yes, but also through words of prose and poetry, on video, in collage, crafting, journaling, stamping, color, sketching in various media. Through creations and interactions in courses, discussions, workshops, coaching sessions, and community events.

Bullet Journaling & Planning

I shared my initial monthly setup in my Seasonal Book on Instagram here with school/office supplies, scholastic themes, squirrels & apples, then the flip-through video above shows what happened with my goals, glows, media favorites, and events “after the pen.”

Updated my Monthly, Weekly, and Daily Logs, Annual Collections, and set up my October spreads over the course of the month, continued to savor writing my Morning Pages and notes with colorful inks in my fountain pens and cherished the shades of the changing season in nature and culture.

Teaching & Coaching

Regular Mindful Movement classes in Balletlicious Ballet Barre+ and Yummy Gentle Yoga, studio classes in Ballet continued and my “Feel Good” well-being elective courses began again, plus I was in planning to start teaching for the Advanced Dance Program in October!

My new ride, The Black Pearl, a Kick 2 kickboard scooter in front of a mural

Writing & Publishing Articles

In September I published 3 articles to the blog here at ablythecoach.com, bringing my Quarter 3 total to 11 and Annual total to 28. This is a great place to find out what I am up as well as other experts and creators who I recommend in long and short-form writing.

September’s new articles:

  • Summer Verses to Swoon For article: feel the warmth of those long lazy days anytime with verses suitable to summer.
  • Artful August – 2025 Month 8 Reflection article: that month I continued my “Swashbuckling Summer” and “Splits this Season” series and kicked off a “Flights of Fancy” series and enjoyed late-summer harvest. For me, it turned to be a pretty whirlwind season. Although we didn’t take any longer trips out-of-town, there were good warm times outdoors and outside the city as well as productive work on creative projects and a decent amount of teaching smaller summer holidays classes.
  • You Need a Smile File, Creative! – Remembering Acknowledgement & Praise to Stay Inspired & Motivated Article: One of a slew of tools to refresh, inspire, and motivate when we feel down or burnt out. Take a peek into my own collected notes of thanks and gather your own evidence of acknowledgement and love to stay inspired and motivated.

Filming & Sharing Videos

I published 4 videos to the A Blythe Coach YouTube Channel on the topics of dance, creativity, and purposeful living in September:

Swoon-Worthy Summer Verses – Poetic Inspiration for Movement video on YouTube 
August Flip & Reflection – Creative Journal BuJo Plan & Memories video on YouTube
You Need a Smile File, Creative video on YouTube 
  • You Need a Smile File, Creative video: How do you counteract the natural survival reflex of negativity bias and inevitable criticism that meets a life of creativity? Enter the “Smile File” of praise, thanks, and acknowledgment from others. One of a slew of tools to refresh, inspire, and motivate when we feel down or burnt out.
Notebook Ecosystem Fall 2025 – Techo Kaigi – Current Journals video on YouTube

These videos brought my Quarter 3 total to 14, and annual total so far to 39, right around where I want to be.

Sunny Sundays we sometimes walk the kitty, involving a lot of lounging and sniffing

Connecting: Email & Social Media

The best way to keep up-to-date on everything I’m coaching, teaching, creating and sharing about as well as work from others that I believe to be of value for fellow creatives is to subscribe to my email newsletter. It lights me up to see new subscribers there as well as responses to me missives.

I sent 2 Email Newsletters in September, bringing my Q3 total to 11, and annual to 35 so far:

In addition, I posted 8 times to Instagram, bringing my Quarter 3 post count to 24 and Annual total so far to 68.

Twenty 25s in 2025

My “Twenty 25s” are a playful way to track various leading metrics, projects and activities I wish to keep an eye on this year.

In Quarter 3 I completed another three “25s” for at total of 14/20 so far, getting closer! Particularly taking action toward the remaining categories in Quarter 4, for example on track for Books Read, working on Pieces of Choreography, Music practices, and Letter-writing.

It was absolutely time for new ballet slippers, though I often dance in socks

Media Musings

My September in reading, listening, and viewing pleasures:

Reading

Books
  • One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune was just the last summer reading fling I needed
  • Evocation: Book I in The Summoner’s Circle by S.T. Gibson, personally liked the characters and interesting modern relationship dynamics go, magic is fitting for my fall reading flavor, but the writing style with lots of description of the characters’ internal emotional states wasn’t my favorite

Still reading along on some of my nonfiction picks (also scripture, personal growth):

Listening Highlights

Favorite things heard over the course of the month go here, such as concerts, songs, pieces of music, playlists, podcasts and more.

Playlists, Songs & Music

So delighted to enjoy and update my Savoring September playlist on YouTube with early autumnal tunes to move to, including:

Oktoberfest eats, Bretzel and Knoedel
Oktoberfest eats, Bretzel and Knoedel at our friends’ celebration

Monthly Viewing Highlights

Mostly faves from September with a few quarterly standouts, I plan to select my top influences annually.

Series

Out and about this month, didn’t catch any new films, but had a couple standout series.

  • “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” was our latest science fiction and I got quite attached to this cast of characters!
  • “Wednesday” Season 2 was a good way to get into the idea of Spooky Season approaching
  • We binged “The Four Seasons” Comedy-drama series with Tina Fey and a bunch of other favorite actors, laughed, cried, were sad there are only 8 episodes

Questions for Reflection

  • What September & Q3 memories are you saving?
  • Which events in Q4 are you most excited for?
  • What are you creating, planning, practicing, enjoying?
  • How will you make the most of this season?
Had fun with “school” supplies in September: notebooks, pens, inks…

Resources for Further Exploration

Further monthly reflections for 2025, special workshops and collaborations in dance, coaching, creative living and more coming soon.

Thank you for reading, for being, and for dancing with me, in spirit or in fact!

Take care of yourself and keep moving mindfully, let me know how if I can be of service, would love to see you in my email newsletter or on social media as well.

Blythe Stephens, MFA & Bliss Catalyst
they/them or she/her
Creator of A Blythe Coach @ablythecoach
helping multi-passionate creatives dance through their difficulties,
taking leaps of faith into fulfillment through coaching, yoga & dance education

Looking Forward to Learning, Teaching & Creating – Autumn 2025 Personal Curriculum

Let’s romanticize, gamify, and bring the fun to our learning and creating goals this season with a “Personal Curriculum!” It is a trending topic that I can really jump on board with.

This nerd is ahead of the times, as I lifelong student constantly pursuing curiosity. You can also check out my 2022 Fall Curriculum article for more about what was on the “syllabus” then.

Here’s what I’m planning on researching, teaching, reading, writing, creating & listening to in cozy season 2025. Would love to know what’s on your learning agenda as well!

Get in the Mood to Grow

Autumn Personal Curriculum 2025 – Looking forward to Learning, Teaching & Creating this Season video on YouTube

Current topics encompass ballet, dance and mindful movement, well being and Safer Spaces, creativity, languages, travel and adventure. Following my curiosity is a blast, but not necessarily easy, so here are a couple points to keep in mind.

Making (Scary) Learning Fun

Pursuing curiosity and a variety of interests can be fun adventurous, but also intensely confronting, as growth is uncomfortable, challenging, even a struggle, confusing, dis-illusioning. Language and communication are complex, expanding our horizons strange.

All the more reason to romance our studies as much as we can. Myself, I enjoy treating my inner Artist Child (from Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way) with books and creative supplies. Indeed, I was fortunate to grow up with parents and close family who indulged my educational and artistic passions so I was also able to find teachers who made learning fun and opened doors for my lifelong love of knowledge.

Slow Growth

You know what is humbling about this declaration and reflection process?

Discovering that many goals I announced in the past have only recently come to pass. Books I have yet to read to completion, topics I still know little about, dance forms in which I am still very much a beginner (ahem, Tango).

Reading my 2022 Fall Curriculum and 2024 Quarter 4 “To Enjoy” List articles, I identified several intentions which were finally in 2025 fulfilled: exploring the Deutsches Tanzarchiv/German Dance Archive and reaching over 1,000 YouTube subscribers for a couple examples, and others where I’m still solidly a beginner.

Of course it makes sense that many topics are threads that continue to weave through my life over the long term, and without firm deadlines extenuating circumstances do tend to happen, extending the time needed to make measurable gains. Fatigue and adult responsibilities do creep in.

But the idea of creating a fresh “Curriculum” or “Syllabus” is to keep going, celebrate progress, evaluate actions and priorities, recommit to learning, growth and creativity.

Twenty 25s in 2025

Having enjoyed the benefits of tracking “Twenty-three 23’s in 2023” and “Twenty-four 24’s in 2024” actions in my Bullet Journal collections (idea from Jess or JashiiCorrin on YouTube), I came back for more of this structure, with “Twenty 25s in 2025!”

Arranged according to my 8 major focus areas; Read, Write, Create, Practice, Serve, Connect, Sustain, and Adventure; in this way I get a somewhat holistic picture of my intentions and goals for the year. Therefore an assessment of my progress on my “25s” was a fitting piece of my “Curriculum” planning.

You may also wish to consider your topics of study or pillars of practice as you design your own curriculum.

Twenty 25s in 2025 Journal Spread
Twenty 25s in 2025 BuJo Spread prior to updates – now just 4 left!

My Fall Subjects

Major topics at a glance are Reading & Research, Writing, Creating Dance, Ballet, Art & Music Ballet, Mindful Movement Practices such as Yoga & Meditation, Cooking & Food.

Learning Activities

My action steps this season include:

Read & Research

Research Topics (reading, viewing, practicing):

  • Safer Spaces
  • Gender Expansiveness in Ballet & Dance
  • Dance History: Massine, Nijinska, Offenbach…
  • Ballet Choreography, Performance, Technique & Pedagogy:
    • “The Nutcracker” Ballet (performance preparation)
    • “Swan Lake” Ballet (general research)
    • Royal Academy of Dancing syllabus, Grades 2 & 4
    • Ballet for pre-professional dancers in other styles
Blythe's Autumn Curriculum 2025 Bullet Journal Spread
Blythe’s Autumn 2025 Personal Curriculum plan in their Bullet Journal

Write

Much of my creativity and productivity involves writing, including personal processing, organizational planning, video planning, articles, challenges, and letters:

  • Daily Logs
  • Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Annual Reflections in Bullet Journal & shared here
  • Articles, for example:
    • “Swan Lake” Ballet (part of my Flights of Fancy series)
    • Creativity
    • Relatedness & Connection
  • Poems
  • Letters
  • Books…

Create

Videos, Choreography, Coaching Tools, Bullet Journal Spreads, Sketching, playing Music & creating Playlists, Baking & making delicious food…

Videos

Video series: Update, Edit, Refresh the Balletlicious Syllabus. Create & share weekly YouTube videos such as:

  • Plumb Line
  • Adage
  • Petit Allegro
  • Ballet Bun
  • Dance Floors & more…
Choreos

Movement research solo and in collaboration, improvisation, choreography for class and stage. Considering doing a “Dance Daily December” again, would you join in?

Music

Creating and sharing playlists, listening to music new and old, finding pieces for dance choreography, and this season I hope to pick up practicing the Harmonica again as well.

  • Listen to specific pieces of music & playlists (a few below)
  • Practice tunes on Harmonica
Playlists
Cooking, Food, Eating

‘Tis the season for baking and cozy comfort foods! In Fall and Winter I especially go for quick breads/muffins, simple cookies to share with students and friends (or not), warm soups and some meal prepping ahead for very busy days and weeks.

  • Bake
    • Chocolate Chip Cookies
    • Sugar Cookies to decorate
    • Ginger Snaps
    • Apple Cinnamon Muffins
    • Pumpkin Muffins
  • Cook/Prep
    • Ricecooker Oats
    • Overnight Oats
    • Carrot Sticks for dipping
    • Jar Salads
    • Soups
Chocolate Chip Cookies
American-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies are a hit with my students!

Practice

Languages, Adulting & Living Abroad, yoga, pranayama, meditation and mindfulness, physical therapy, dance techniques, improvisation, composition and criticism…there is a lot I am practicing to improve!

Ballet & Dance

Ballet: RAD Exam Syllabi (especially Grades 2 & 4), “The Nutcracker” & “Swan Lake” classical ballets, Seasonal Music, Choreography for Classes, Video, Stage 

Dance: Nikolais-Louis Modern Dance Technique, Bartenieff Fundamentals, Laban Movement Analysis, Improvisation, Choreography, Criticism

Yoga & Mindful Movement
  • Daily Yoga, Somatics study, weekly Physical Therapy practices (resistance band, foam roller, ball, stretch, pull-up bar…)
  • Meditation & Pranayama: repeat Schuyler Grant’s “The Chill Pill” Course on Commune, daily meditation sessions
  • Gratitude & Abundance daily
Coaching
  • Coaching, Learning & Change – translating coaching tools into German and for the demographics I’m currently working with most intensively, youth and young adults
Languages, German, Life Abroad

Language Learning:

  • Deutsch – Duolingo Daily for vocabulary & grammar practice
  • Hawaiian, French, Turkish…

German Residency: Prepare for work Visa Renewal in 2026, eventual Driver’s License…

Adventure & Celebration

Travel & explore, together & alone, regional & international, always seek to enjoy life! This “semester” we have a getaway with friends to Belgium planned, I want to get tickets for my next visit home, family & friends will visit from abroad, and Ela will celebrate her birthday (and many other birthday fests in November!).

Fall colors in Cologne: a red vine climbs a building next to a yellow-leafed tree

Related Resources

Podcast Episode 094: Fall 2022 “Curriculum”

Questions for Reflection

  • What are you looking forward to learning this season?
  • Which books are on your TBR?
  • Will you be baking certain treats or preparing special meals?
  • Which pieces of music or playlists will accompany your study?
  • How will you romanticize and enjoy the work to be done?
  • What are you creating?
  • What makes you curious?
  • What creations will you make and share?

The best way to keep up-to-date on everything I’m coaching, teaching, creating and sharing about as well as my favorite work from other creators is to subscribe to my email newsletter. Would love to hear about what you’re currently learning, teaching, and creating there, on social media, online or in-person.

Thanks for reading and moving together in spirit or in fact. Take care of yourself, pay attention, and hope to see you again.

Blythe Stephens, MFA & Bliss Catalyst
they/them or she/her
Creator of A Blythe Coach @ablythecoach
taking leaps of faith into a joyful, fulfilling life

How to Find & Foster Safe(r) Spaces in a Diverse Dancing Life

As a dance educator and teaching artist, creating a safe space for learning has long been a topic of interest and top priority in coaching and classes in studios, colleges, universities, and schools.

Recently my interest has been reignited by working in a context similar to where I myself have experienced feeling unsafe, bullied, at risk: middle school.

I’ve been giving elective classes in dance, yoga, and well-being (the opportunity due to the coordinator being an adult ballet student of mine), and along with those electives assist with the Chill Room / Safe Space room during the lunch break. This is a different country and context from that where I grew up in Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i, but many of the issues are the same: racism, discrimination, ignorance, bullying.

Having previously become familiar with the concept of Safer Space codes of conduct in the context of LGBTQIA2S+ queer nightlife, parties, dances, and demonstrations, the same tenets are true for a variety of social and educational contexts.

Unfortunately its all too easy to see the parallels between middle school meanness and wannabe tyrannical rulers and thugs playing on the international stage. With intersectional diverse individuals feeling increasingly unsafe in current society and human rights under threat, Mental Health Day and Coming Out Day being celebrated in October, it is timely to consider how we can work together to generate loving, supportive spaces for all.

Safer Spaces Research

Here I’m sharing research in progress which I will be bringing to my professional practice, in the form of notes in my seasonal Bullet Journal:

Finding & fostering Safer Spaces in a diverse dancing life video on YouTube

Safe(r) Spaces Defined

Wikipedia defines the term Safe Space in this way:

“The term safe space refers to places “intended to be free of bias, conflict, criticism, or potentially threatening actions, ideas, or conversations”, according to Merriam-Webster.[2] 

It is a place where marginalized groups can discuss issues pertinent to them without having to address questions or remarks that might be directed at them from majority groups in society who are not familiar with certain issues. The term originated in LGBTQ culture,[3] but has since expanded to include any place where a marginalized minority (e.g., gender, racial, religious, ethnic) can come together to communicate regarding their shared experiences.

Safe spaces are most commonly located on university campuses in the western world,[4] but also are at workplaces, as in the case of Nokia.[5]

The terms safe space (or safe-space), safer space, and positive space may also indicate that a teacher, educational institution or student body does not tolerate violence, harassment, or hate speech, thereby creating a safe place for marginalized people.[6]“

Blythe’s Safer Spaces Bullet Journal spread of tools & resources from their research

Safe Space Sources

In my notebook I’ve listed a few of the resources I’ve found helpful so far, and I know this is only the tip of the iceberg of knowledge:

Codes of Conduct

Safethedance.de presents three key elements that such spaces share:

  • Consent (only “yes” means yes)
  • Power of Definition (respecting others’ identities and boundaries)
  • Solidarity (take care of each other)

These are well-aligned with my basic rules of any (usually dance) class to be safe/careful, be respectful (of self, others, space), and have fun. Without safety and respect, there is little enjoyment or learning!

I can see how empowering it can be for a community to develop their own individual code of conduct together, to further flesh out how we can be excellent to one another.

Safer Space Next Steps

My next steps are to continue to define my own boundaries, develop codes of conduct along with the communities of which I am a part, and respect others’ diverse identities, perspectives and identities.

The learning continues and I hope you’ll share your knowledge of Safer Spaces at work in community groups, schools, dance and performing arts, higher education, professional life and beyond.

Questions for Reflection

  • In which spaces, settings, and contexts do you feel safe? Where not?
  • Where and with whom have you felt loved, accepted, encouraged, empowered?
  • Which spaces, settings, and contexts feel safe to you? Which not?
  • How can we create safer spaces for learning, growth, and creativity?
  • In what ways can bystanders and community members help folks in danger?
  • What are you learning?

Resources for Further Exploration

The best way to keep up-to-date on everything I’m coaching, teaching, creating and sharing about as well as my favorite work from other creators is to subscribe to my email newsletter. Would love to be connected to you there, on social media, online or in-person.

Thanks for reading and moving together in spirit or in fact. Take care of yourself, pay attention, and hope to see you again.

Blythe Stephens, MFA & Bliss Catalyst
they/them or she/her
Creator of A Blythe Coach @ablythecoach
helping multi-passionate creatives dance through their difficulties,
taking leaps of faith into fulfillment through coaching, yoga & dance education

You Need a Smile File, Creative! – Remembering Acknowledgement & Praise to Stay Inspired & Motivated

How do you counteract the natural survival reflex of negativity bias and inevitable criticism that meets a life of creativity?

Enter the “Smile File” of praise, thanks, and acknowledgment from others. One of a slew of tools to refresh, inspire, and motivate when we feel down or burnt out.

You Need a Smile File

Take a peek into my own collected notes of thanks and gather your own evidence of acknowledgement and love in the video below:

You Need a Smile File, Creative video on YouTube 

Be Present to Praise

Many cherished texts on creativity address dealing with negative feedback, failure, and discouragement. The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron and The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield come immediately to mind though there are many others. Every artist and person trying to accomplish something exp;eriences this.

I was experiencing a recent bout of difficulty and resistance and was feeling frustrated so was glad to be reminded of this resource I’m glad to have in my toolkit.

This year I have been reading Matthew Dicks’ book, Someday is Today​ and to this point, he stresses that, “Our work will be scrutinized, criticized, and utterly dismissed.” (Ebook Location: 3,884) Maybe you are currently experiencing such a period of discouragement or negative messages.

According to Dicks and backed by research, “Sadly, human beings are wired to remember and retain the negative over the positive. (…) Studies have shown that a person needs to hear at least 5.6 positive statements in order to counteract a single negative one.” (Someday is Today​ 3,920; 3,914)

Looking at all the thoughtful notes and kind words lifted my spirits, reminded me of the value of my work, and helped me carry on with enthusiasm. As Dicks intones, “In these times of need, this collection of compliments might just save you.” (Someday is Today​ 3,929)

"Crazy Times" reads this street art mural on a container at the Henry Ford Realschule in Cologne, Germany
“Crazy Times” reads this street art mural, Henry Ford Realschule in Cologne, Germany

“The world is too full of kindness for us to not allow the kindnesses we’re offered to echo in our minds again and again.”

– Matthew Dicks, Someday is Today​ 3,960

What to Put in Your File of Smiles

These ideas are just a jumping-off point for your brainstorm of good feedback and reflections of your greatness:

  • Thank you notes
  • Pen Pal letters
  • Professional evaluations
  • Performance reviews
  • Love letters
  • Random compliments received from strangers
  • Certificates or Awards
  • Ephemera that remind you of feeling seen, accomplished, having a positive impact
  • What else will you include?

Questions for Reflection

  • What nice things have folks said or written to you in the past?
  • How do you keep words of praise and encouragement?
  • How do you hope to be spoken of in the future?
  • What challenges are you currently struggling to overcome?
  • What are you creating?

Resources for Further Exploration

The best way to keep up-to-date on everything I’m coaching, teaching, creating and sharing about as well as my favorite work from other creators is to subscribe to my email newsletter. Would love to be connected to you there, on social media, online or in-person.

Thanks for reading and moving together in spirit or in fact. Take care of yourself, pay attention, and hope to see you again.

Blythe Stephens, MFA & Bliss Catalyst
they/them or she/her
Creator of A Blythe Coach @ablythecoach
helping multi-passionate creatives dance through their difficulties,
taking leaps of faith into fulfillment through coaching, yoga & dance education

Artful August – 2025 Month 8 Reflection

In August I continued my “Swashbuckling Summer” and “Splits this Season” series and kicked off a “Flights of Fancy” series and enjoyed late-summer harvest.

For me, it turned to be a pretty whirlwind season. Although we didn’t take any longer trips out-of-town, there were good warm times outdoors and outside the city as well as productive work on creative projects and a decent amount of teaching smaller summer holidays classes.

In this article I recap my month of August in projects, life and events.

Blythe’s piratical effects / adventure carry bag

August Action

The last month of summer was mostly fittingly warm, full of delicious fresh harvest and the first of the colorful falling leaves and nuts. Many folks leave Cologne in August, but my girlfriend and I stayed in town, so to speak, getting outside when we could and with a couple little weekend excursions:

  • Radical PRIDE / Cologne Kalk was a refreshingly noncommercialized queer fest that happened to fall on a lovely sturgeon full moon night with lovely friends who I expected to be there and surprise acquaintances,
  • Submitted descriptions of my upcoming elective courses for School Year 2025-6 and eagerly planned themes, syllabi and lessons
  • Got my German Tax Return information all ready to file
  • Cleaned, decluttered and organized our dusty bedroom bookshelves before the dark season returns
  • Re-supplied for Back-to-School with paper, pens, inks, ballet slippers and unitard
  • Grooves & Grapes Weinfest: Wine Fest among the grape fields with my favorite Rose, Ela’s mom, friends, music, food and all the good things
  • Apple, Fig, nectarine & grape season – fresh fruit as snacks, in oatmeal, cakes…

Bullet Journaling & Planning

Because of its role in my creative process behind-the-scenes, journaling has become a part what I share on my YouTube channel along with dance, yoga, and joyful living. Here’s my monthly review of what I got up to in my notebooks and life in August 2025:

August Flip & Reflection video on YouTube

I shared my initial monthly setup in my Seasonal Book on Instagram here with shades of blue and butterflies then the flip-through video above shows what happened with my goals, glows, media favorites, and events “after the pen.”

Updated my Monthly, Weekly, and Daily Logs, Annual Collections, and set up my August spreads over the course of the month, continued to savor writing my Morning Pages and notes with colorful inks in my fountain pens.

Teaching & Coaching

Regular Mindful Movement classes in Balletlicious Ballet Barre+ and Yummy Gentle Yoga, studio classes in Ballet continued, while my elective courses took a break for the summer vacation in Nordrhein-Westfalen.

There are currently no coaching slots free in my weekly schedule, but I will keep you up to date here about any available coaching sample sessions and spots (message to schedule), workshops, and guest teaching to come.

Blythe getting low in part 3, the exciting conclusion of Splits this Season

Writing & Publishing Articles

In August I published 5 articles to the blog here at ablythecoach.com (3 in July, that’s just how the weeks fell). This is a great place to find out what I am up as well as other experts and creators who I recommend.

August’s new articles:

  • Jaunty June – 2025 Month 6, Q2 & Midyear Reflection about how a sweet spring in Cologne and in the US came to a close, June brought a heat wave, hay fever, successful medical procedures in the family, end-of-schoolyear, start of the summer, and birthday fests. In this article I wrapped up the month of June, Quarter 2, and the first 6 months of 2025 as a whole in my own projects, life and events.
  • Emancipatory Dance – Dancing Intersectional Feminism: This article was originally part of my Theory and Criticism work for my MFA in Dance in 2014, and critical pedagogy and artistic practice continues to be relevant to my teaching, coaching, and creative practice over a decade later.
  • Be Buoyant like a Butterfly – Flights of Fancy – Airy Inspiration Roundup Having had encounters with Butterflies in the Amazon basin jungle, on the Appalachian Trail, migrating Monarchs in California, at home on the Big Island (black sand beach, at home…), rescue on the bus in Cologne… in every place I have felt blessed by their gentle presence and his article celebrates the miracle that is this insect.
  • July was Sigh Worthy – 2025 Month 7 Reflection: July is about high summer, brought a heat wave and then cool rain to Cologne, and kicked off my “Swashbuckling Summer” and “Splits this Season” series with glowing energy and creativity.
  • Philosophy for Children in a Dance Context – p4c teaching applications to performing arts education: What role can “gently Socratic” philosophical inquiry play in the context of performing arts education?I consider myself fortunate to have had the honor of participating in Dr. Thomas Jackson’s PHIL 492: Philosophy with Children (p4c) course in the Spring of 2015, one of the last courses in my work towards my MFA in Dance. The concepts and techniques have continued to prove valuable over time, so I wanted to share as a resource for fellow educators, performing artists, and dancers.

Filming & Sharing Videos

I published 6+ videos (additional bonuses exclusively for my online students to review between classes) to the A Blythe Coach YouTube Channel on the topics of dance, creativity, and purposeful living in August:

Splits this Season Part 1b – Standing Side / Middle Split Stretch Video on YouTube
Splits this Season – Part 2 Upside Down/Inverted Gravity Splits video on YouTube
Splits this Season Part 3 video on YouTube
  • Splits this Season Part 3 – Getting Lower to the Floor with Blocks & Props into Front & Side Splits video features supported lunges, “half” towards “full” splits on the floor (right, left, and center), with various props like yoga blocks or a foam roller, and you can use an assortment of pillows, bolsters, folded blankets or towels and the like to set up your ideal situation as you get ready to leap into lower splits (as appropriate). Remember to practice with good judgment, while warm, regularly, working up to holding 30 seconds/32 counts or more. All stretches, shapes, and steps should be taken gently, at your (and your doctor’s) discretion and with appropriate modifications, such as the variety of shapes in my Splits this Season playlist fun flexibility any time and in many positions!
June Stationery, Emphemera & Empties – Creative Supplies video on YouTube
  • June Stationery, Emphemera & Empties – Creative Supplies & Personal Care favorites video: June being itself a favorite for so many reasons, with PRIDE and the Summer Solstice, it also marks the midpoint of the year and therefore necessitates deeper reflection than a typical month in my life. My June BuJo Flip/Q2/Midyear Reflection was therefore lengthy enough before I included my ephemera, creative supply and personal care commentary, so I decided to include these separately in this video. Having already published a flip-through of the month in my Seasonal Bullet Journal Book, here is a peek at other stationery & notebooks used, completed/used-up “empties” of art supplies and personal care products.  Behind the scenes, I’m practicing mindful consumption and aware creation.
July Flip & Reflection video on YouTube
  • July Flip & Reflection – Creative Journaling of a Bliss Catalyst Dancer Coach – BuJo Plan & Memories video on YouTube July is about high summer, brought a heat wave and then cool rain to Cologne, and kicked off my “Swashbuckling Summer” and “Splits this Season” series with glowing energy and creativity. This is a flip-through of the month in my Seasonal Bullet Journal Book, media published & personally consumed, high & lowlights and special events.
Piratical Personal Effects Adventure Carry & TBR video on YouTube
  • Piratical Personal Effects Adventure Carry & TBR – Creative Supplies, Reading, Writing, Sketching video: Shiver me timbers, there’s still a little summer left in which to swashbuckle! Though I may not want a life on the open sea myself, I was raised on sailing and pirate stories and appreciate the ethos of freedom, treasure, and adventure. Set out on a Swashbuckling Summer, living it up outdoors, in nature with favored creative inspirations of the moment, channeling a wild and carefree inner pirate to help savor the season while it lasts. Here I unpack my Piratical Adventure Carry bag, loaded with reading picks, journals, writing & sketching supplies, tools with which to observe the world, gain insights, learn, make notes and art.

Connecting: Email & Social Media

The best way to keep up-to-date on everything I’m coaching, teaching, creating and sharing about as well as work from others that I believe to be of value for fellow creatives is to subscribe to my email newsletter. It lights me up to see new subscribers there as well as responses to me missives.

I sent 5 Email Newsletters in August:

In addition, I posted 13 times to Instagram, my favorite being this one:

Plumb crumble cake sparks joy! What else? Dancing and moving in community (IG)

Creative Challenges

Teaching Artist, Choreographer, Movement Educator & Coach, I get to explore my soul’s expression through my work, and face new challenges each month. Some I design myself, and some I take on at the impulse of other creators.

For my summer celebration of (comparative) freedom and self-determination, I declared Jolly Roger July, as well as a flexibility goal for myself and students to soar into the Splits this Summer, and Flights of Fancy, starting with Be Buoyant like a Butterfly – Flights of Fancy – Airy Inspiration Roundup, and I’ve got birds, swans and others on my mind.

Twenty 25s in 2025

In August I published my 25th article of the year, reaching 13 out of 20 “Twenty 25s,” a playful way to track various leading metrics, projects and activities I wish to keep an eye on this year.

Media Musings

My August in reading, listening, and viewing pleasures:

Books & Reading

Books Read

Planning ahead, 8 cozy books for Fall from Morgan Long helped me populate my electronic library holds list for the season ahead. I completed reading 2 novels in August:

  • Fun for the Whole Family: A Novel by Jennifer E. Smith, a sad but sweet family story about a talented group of siblings and those who love them
  • Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez, a Rom-Com about family love, friendship as well as romance, commitment and the complexity of “happily ever after”

Still reading along on some of my nonfiction picks (also scripture, personal growth):

A few of my observation, creation, and discovery tools, including summer TBR

Listening Highlights

Favorite things heard over the course of the month go here, such as concerts, songs, pieces of music, playlists, podcasts and more.

Playlists & Albums
  • Summer’s End Sweet Sadness Dance playlist on YouTube was my latest addition, a celebration of the beautiful heartbreak of end-of-summer and start-of-autumn with danceable beats to feel many feels.
Songs & Pieces of Music
  • “Kitri Act III” and “Dance of the Matadors” from the classical ballet “Don Quixote” made for fun prop work (fans! capes!) and spicy dancing in late summer
  • “BOOMBAYAH” from BLACKPINK was featured in an episode of “Wednesday,” wow they must have some budget!
  • “Golden” and “Soda Pop” from the “KPop Demon Hunters” film, the whole sound track is full of catchy ear worms
  • “Bodies (Tycho Remix)” from The Knocks & MUNA moved me right through the end of the season
  • “Thunder Summer Storm” is my favorite from Melissa Czarnik, a conscious rap beat for stormy late summer
  • “Summer Breeze” by Seals and Crofts, for when the balmy breezes still blow
  • A working summer made me feel “I like tuh (make money, get turnt)” from Carnage, ILOVEMAKONNEN – not family friendly!
Rufio the cat assists with planning early-Autumn teaching and creations

Monthly Viewing Highlights

August sights included…

Live Performance

Drag of several flavors live at Radical Pride, DJs spinning sets at Grooves & Grapes!

Films
  • “KPop Demon Hunters” which was recommended by our neighbors and turned out to be a huge boon with my middle-schoolers, great animation and real Kpop bangers, lots of action with a good message
  • “Thursday Murder Club” was a humorously adventurous murder mystery
  • “Raising Arizona“ 1987 film with young Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter: I love the Cohen Brothers, acting, writing and cinematography are flawless, humor on point, so glad I got to share this with Ela
  • “Wings” animated short was adorable and suited to my annual theme
Series

Standout series seen:

  • “Wednesday” season 2 helped me adjust to the idea that fall is coming and also featured Blackpink’s “Boom Ba Ya” in one episode, a crossover with other media
  • Continued “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” and have become so attached to this cast of characters that I will be sad when we conclude the series. Who knew I’d become a Trekkie in my 40s?
  • “Love Death + Robots” series is eclectic, maybe a bit morbid, though often humorous (and the episodes stand alone)
  • “I Kissed a Girl” is trashy reality TV from the UK, but made for a fun end-of-summer fling
  • “Southpark” selected new episodes for the stinging political and social commentary
  • I watched “Decorating Cents“ back then and have happy associations with Joan Steffends’ voice so found this video essay hilarious
Bedroom Bookshelf clean & declutter/organize “after:” not perfect, but accomplished

Questions for Reflection

  • What did you adore in August?
  • What are you harvesting now?
  • How will you get into the Fall feels or lean into the seasonal transition where you are?
  • How may I support your journey?

Resources for Further Exploration

Further monthly reflections for 2025, special workshops and collaborations in dance, coaching, creative living and more coming soon.

Thank you for reading, for being, and for dancing with me, in spirit or in fact!

Take care of yourself and keep moving mindfully, let me know how if I can be of service, would love to see you in my email newsletter or on social media as well.

Blythe Stephens, MFA & Bliss Catalyst
they/them or she/her
Creator of A Blythe Coach @ablythecoach
helping multi-passionate creatives dance through their difficulties,
taking leaps of faith into fulfillment through coaching, yoga & dance education

Summer Verses to Swoon for – Poetic Seasonal Inspiration

Savor the last days of the season with me in real time, or feel the warmth of those long lazy days anytime with verses suitable to summer.

Fresh local summer fruits
Fresh local German summer fruits from friends: applies, plums, grapes

Blythe Reads a Few Faves

Swoon-Worthy Summer Verses – Poetic Inspiration for Movement & Creative Living – Seasonal Poems video on YouTube

Sweet Summer Poems

I read some of these favorites in the video above, some in other media, some can be found in books and also read online for free:

  • “Bee! I’m expecting you!” by Emily Dickinson
  • “The Owl & the Pussycat” by Edward Lear
  • “To a Skylark” by Percy Bysshe Shelley, synchronistically was my Summer Solstice & Birthday Poem, starts off “blithe spirit…”
  • “When the Roses Speak, I Pay Attention” by Mary Oliver
  • “While I am Writing a Poem to Celebrate Summer, the Meadowlark Begins to Sing” by Mary Oliver
  • “The Sun” by Mary Oliver (not in the video)
  • “Summer Warmth” by Helen Cohen (not in the video)
  • “Liberty” by Janet S. Wong
  • “Ripeness” by Jane Hirschfield (not in the video, but Moon Medicine Yoga shared a lovely reading in their Litha /Summer Solstice practice video on YouTube)

There are so many more, this is clearly just a start!

Some of the books containing my favorite summer poems so far…

Questions for Reflection

  • Which poems feel like summer to you?
  • How does the written word inspire you?
  • What media & materials do use to evoke & embrace the season?
  • What’s on your bucket list or mood board?
  • What are you moved to write or create?
  • How may I support your creativity?

Resources for Further Exploration

  • Be Buoyant like a Butterfly – Flights of Fancy – Airy Inspiration Roundup Light as a feather, fluttering in springtime and summer, having had encounters with butterflies in just about every place I have been, I always feel blessed by their gentle presence. Butterfly, Schmetterling, Farfalle, Papillon…I love their many names, their movements, the science and the mystery behind their lifecycles. Beloveds come to mind as a butterfly flits by, and art, literature, poetry, music, and movement all help me embody the qualities of the butterflies I marvel at, in this article I share these as well as many more flights of fancy and airy inspirations to delight.
  • Spring Flings & Bright Things: a Bucket List of Fresh, Joyful Seasonal Experiences Being a (late) spring baby myself, I’ve always been especially drawn to the season, the themes of new life, rebirth, emergence, vitality, fertility, the increasing warmth and light, and joy! From the first early blossoms and rays of Sun leading up to the Spring Equinox, to the long, bright days of the Summer Solstice, I do my best to make the most of this richly potent season of growth and development.
  • Summer Fun in or out of the Sun: a Bucket List of Hot-Weather Hits Warmer weather lends itself to many activities I enjoy, such as time outdoors, bicycling, picnicking, and eating fresh produce. I try to seize the sunny fleeting days wherever I can and not miss out on my favorite bits before they’re gone again. Less decoration and dressing up, more dressing down, decluttering, deep-cleaning, taking in the natural beauty. Here is a collection of resources and activities that might provide a jumping-off point for your own longer-day adventures.
  • Seaside, Oceanic & Watery Inspirations – Dance, Yoga, Music, Poetry & Creativity Though watery ocean, lake, river, and rain concepts can ignite the imagination yearlong, I find them particularly fun in the warmer months, for children’s and all-ages dance, yoga, meditation and visualization, poetic and artistic inspiration. This is a (growing, dynamic, never comprehensive) collection of resources I personally treasure and love to share as a teaching artist but may also be useful to families with children, other creatives, or to delight your own inner artist child.
  • Jolly Roger July & a Piratical Summer – being freedom, treasure & adventure in treacherous times I may not want a life on the open sea myself, but I was raised on sailing and pirate stories and appreciate the ethos of freedom, treasure, and adventure. What better time to embark on a fantastical journey of imagination than summer?
  • Creative Ballet Port de Bras – Arm Artistry Exploring Nature has many more mindful movement explorations

The best way to keep up-to-date on everything I’m coaching, teaching, creating and sharing about as well as my favorite work from other creators is to subscribe to my weekly email newsletter. Would love to be connected to you there, on social media, online or in-person.

Thanks for reading and moving together in spirit or in fact. Take care of yourself, pay attention, and hope to see you again.

Blythe Stephens, MFA & Bliss Catalyst
they/them or she/her
Creator of A Blythe Coach @ablythecoach
helping multi-passionate creatives dance through their difficulties,
taking leaps of faith into fulfillment through coaching, yoga & dance education

Philosophy for Children in a Dance Context – p4c teaching applications to performing arts education

What role can “gently Socratic” philosophical inquiry play in the context of performing arts education?

I consider myself fortunate to have had the honor of participating in Dr. Thomas Jackson’s PHIL 492: Philosophy with Children (p4c) course in the Spring of 2015, one of the last courses in my work towards my MFA in Dance. The concepts and techniques have continued to prove valuable over time, so I wanted to share as a resource for fellow educators, performing artists, and dancers.

Due to the time in which it was written, some pedagogical theories and strategies that I mention in the essay below strike me now as a bit out-of-date now, 10 years later. Additionally, rather than a polished essay, the final project was presented as an oral presentation, but the spirit, valuable theory and useful practices are there and I appreciate the reminders of how to integrate such curiosity and joint exploration into diverse subject areas.

Continuing to refresh and grow my artistic and teaching practice continually and glad to have similarly interested educators and learners here to share your insights!

Rufio the cat helps with preparing for Fall courses and a new School Year

Reflective & Critical Practices in Dance

As with my articles Sourcing Ballet Somatically – Pedagogical Approaches to Integrating Movement Techniques and Emancipatory Dance – Dancing Intersectional Feminism, this essay is based on one I wrote during graduate school, taking the approach of critical pedagogy to investigate practices in empowering dancers in the teaching of dance technique and practice of the performing arts.

Teaching artists and choreographers can approach pedagogy and praxis critically, with the aim of empowering dancers and students to become better thinkers, make connections, and apply knowledge to all areas of their lives.     

My Perspective  

I have been a performing artist and philosopher for the duration, passionately pursuing movement and academic curiosities through a high school diploma in Ballet, Bachelor’s in Philosophy, Master’s in Dance, and professional and personal explorations.

Alongside my public school education in Hawai’i, I participated in pre-professional ballet and dance training from the age of 5, going on to conservatory education at North Carolina School of the Arts, performance on the continental US, Hawai’i, and Europe, an MFA in Dance Performance & Choreography from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, leadership in the Performing Arts as the President of the Dance Coalition of Oregon and more.

Given my vision and mission, this will continue to be an area of research, contemplation, discussion, and experimentation as I continue in the field, and I look forward to engaging with you about it too, here in the online space and in person.

What p4c Means for Dance Education

In the revised version of Chapter 73 of Developing Minds: a Resource Book for Teaching Thinking, “The Art and Craft of ‘Gently Socratic’ Inquiry,” Dr. Thomas Jackson states that “P4C seeks to develop children’s ability to think for themselves and to learn to use that ability in responsible, caring ways.” (3) Philosophy for Children (P4C) is a toolkit and approach to working with children–or really any group of people–that places value on community, inquiry, philosophy, children, and thinking. It is our view that this approach can revolutionize education as well as society and all of human interaction. Ashby Butnor quotes Gadamer: “‘shared inquiry should make possible not only insight into this or that specific thing, but, insofar as is humanly possible, insight into all virtue and vice and the whole of reality.’ While this may be a bit too lofty an aspiration for our own critical communities, the role of our shared inquiries is no less important.” I don’t think this goal is too lofty at all, and wonder why we should ever shoot lower?

As my summative assessment in p4c, I would like to synthesize what I’ve been learning about P4C this semester with my ideas and experiments in critical, feminist, emancipatory pedagogy and philosophy. With a background in dancing and life coaching, I teach ballet, modern dance, creative movement, jazz dance, and musical theatre here at UHM and in the community, and since I have been pursuing my MFA in Dance Choreography and Performance these last 3.5 years I have been particularly interested in dance education and pedagogy. In teaching my university level classes, I have sought to provide excellent dance technique training along with an educational emphasis on the learning process and applicability to all areas of life, rather than simply a technical product. It is a challenging balance. 

I have had the honor of teaching dance classes to all age groups here on O‘ahu, and specifically teaching Dance 121 (Beginning Ballet Technique) and 131 (Beginning Modern Dance Technique) classes at UH these last two years have provided a teaching and learning laboratory with valuable and positive feedback. My goal as a teacher is to develop self-knowledge as well as content knowledge and skills, since as Bill Evans said in his article in the National Dance Association’s Focus On Dance Pedagogy: the Evolving Art of Teaching Excellence, “Cultivating Openness to Continual (and Positive) Change”: “I don’t teach technique, I teach people.” In order to best understand the people I am teaching each semester, at the beginning of each course, I do a thorough Needs Assessment for my students, including questions about their goals for the course and dance and movement background, as well as a Learning Styles Questionnaire which I learned about in my GA training and is in the UH Teaching Handbook. This simple assessment identifies the constituent preferred learning styles of the class and identifies for me some tactics which may prove especially effective in teaching these individuals, as well as helping them strategize how to go about studying this new subject. We discuss whether they agree with the assessment, ultimately trusting their own experience, and acknowledge that it is just one among many devices available to create greater self-awareness.

The Learning Styles Questionnaire reveals that a variety of learning preferences exist in each of my classes, in different proportions. Students can apply this self-knowledge in all of their coursework, as well as life beyond academia. Freshman undergraduates, graduate students, and even faculty members in my courses have shared the value of taking the time to investigate their learning styles and the many learning techniques available to them. The key is not to limit my teaching methods to target most students, but to both expand my pedagogical approaches and their learning styles over the duration of the course. The approach challenges my ability to make the information clear and deepens all students’ understanding of and experience with dance technique.

Specific instructional strategies which I have implemented to address various learning styles or preferences include: evocative imagery, speaking and demonstrating from different places in the room, changing spatial perspectives (not always facing the mirror), having students close their eyes and experience internal processes, writing on the board, note-taking and journaling, handouts, video [and live performance] viewing, movement analysis and problem-solving, performance critiques, peer feedback and coaching, tactile feedback exercises, use of props, being clear about the reason for each technique, having students vocalize questions or responses, student improvisation, composition, and performance, musical education and use of different musical styles. Another approach I would like to implement in the future is to video the students dancing and provide the opportunity view and critique the recorded dances.

Many students benefit from supplementary visual and linguistic aids, which they can refer to outside of class, so it has been helpful to provide key vocabulary and concepts written out on the board (which we discuss and students can copy down or photograph), as well as handouts with new vocabulary, pictures, drawings, and diagrams. In my own technique training growing up, and in higher education, I haven’t received many of these aids, but in other coursework they have proven invaluable, so I have applied that knowledge to my own teaching. I can review these supplements with the students and refer back to them, and it helps them get a handle on the concepts being taught.

I believe in the value of reflective practice, and so provide opportunities for students to “digest” and extend their learning through journaling. The journal provides the opportunity to take notes on course material, as well as respond to prompts over the course of the semester on topics such as goal-setting, evaluations, feedback/”corrections,” diagramming positions and movements with stick figures, and spatial notation. The journal also provides an opportunity for dialogue between myself and the students outside of class, since some may be too shy to speak up or time may limit our chance to engage at length during class time.

In my teaching, I provide varied descriptions and images (my favorites are food metaphors) to evoke movement qualities, patterns and initiations. I also vary the location that I teach from in order to make sure everyone gets the chance to see and hear clearly and ask questions. By providing a multitude of images to illustrate movement, students can investigate what imagery works for them, and I also use different vocal qualities for my teaching and vocalization exercises for students to enhance their learning.

Students in all of my classes are required to view dance on video and in live performance and write critiques of what they see. This is so useful as it provides perspective on what is possible through dance movement, different techniques and choreographic choices. It enhances students’ ability to observe and analyze movement and inspires them to keep working at their technique. The critical process of observation, description, analysis, interpretation, and evaluation engages higher thinking skills. [Feldman Model of Criticism, which I learned from Betsy, will talk about the criticism and higher-level thinking in the question about life skills]

As we progress through the technique course, I provide simple experiences in movement analysis (Elements of Dance, LMA, “Basic Movements” such as reaching, rising, turning, gliding) to help students get perspective on how individual techniques fit into the larger scheme of movement possibilities, as well as develop skills in analytical thinking.

Tactile feedback is a time-honored and very useful tool in providing kinesthetic learning experiences. Making sure that students are comfortable with being touched [and if not, providing a non-touch version of the exercise so that all students can participate], I provide gentle input through touch, building physical and technical awareness. I also have students work together in pairs to enhance physical perception [for example, pressing up into a partner’s hand to feel length in the spine, exploring spinal flexion and extension, exploring scapular motion, etc.].

Peer feedback and coaching helps develop observational skills, as students build facility with dance concepts, are able to articulate their feedback in a different way than I do and may be better able to “hear” and implement input from peers. We focus on observation skills, positive reinforcement, and gentle constructive criticism. ALL feedback is for all students!

Finally, improvisation, composition and performance are other instructional strategies that enhance technique mastery and learning skills, and I will discuss these in more detail in the section on choreography. [Question #3]

  • COMMUNITY
  • INQUIRY
  • PHILOSOPHY
  • CHILDREN can become compassionate and able to make good judgments 
  • THINKING critical, curious, open-minded
Blythe sits and smiles in front of a bright pink wall

Questions for Reflection

  • What does inquiry bring to the creative and educational context?
  • What do you wonder about?
  • What does dance mean to you?
  • What do you want to know about dance & art?
  • How can we go about discovering answers?

Works Cited 

  1. Costa, Arthur L. Developing Minds: a Resource Book for Teaching Thinking. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2001. Print.
  2. Schmitz, Nancy Brooks., Sandra R. Weeks, and Bill T. Jones. Focus On Dance Pedagogy: the Evolving Art of Teaching Excellence. Reston, VA: National Dance Association, 2010. Print.
  3. Wootten, Claire F. “Navigating Liminal Space in the Feminist Ballet Class,” Congress on Research in Dance Conference Proceedings 41.S1 (2009): 122–129. Web.

Related Reading

  • Paulo Friere’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Pedagogy of Hope
  • James Conroy’s Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Imagination, Education and Democracy
  • bell hooks’ Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom
  • Ann Manicorn’s “Feminist Pedagogy: Transformations, Standpoint, and Politics”
  • Kathleen Manning’s Rituals, Ceremonies, and Cultural Meaning in Higher Education
  • Sherry Shapiro’s Dance Power and Difference: Critical and Feminist Perspectives on Dance Education
  • Sue Stinson’s “Journey Toward a Feminist Pedagogy for Dance”
  • Robin Lakes’ “The Message Behind the Methods: The Authoritarian Pedagogical Legacy in Western Concert Dance Technique Training and Teaching”
  • Adrienne Rich’s “Taking Women Students Seriously”

Resources for Further Exploration

Further topical explorations, special workshops and collaborations in dance, coaching, creative living and more coming soon.

Thank you for reading, for being, and for dancing with me, in spirit or in fact!

Take care of yourself and keep moving mindfully, let me know how if I can be of service, would love to see you in my email newsletter or on social media as well.

Blythe Stephens, MFA & Bliss Catalyst
they/them or she/her
Creator of A Blythe Coach @ablythecoach
helping multi-passionate creatives dance through their difficulties,
taking leaps of faith into fulfillment through coaching, yoga & dance education

July was Sigh Worthy – 2025 Month 7 Reflection

July for me is about high summer, brought a heat wave and then cool rain to Cologne PRIDE, and kicked off my “Swashbuckling Summer” and “Splits this Season” series with glowing energy and creativity.

In this article I’ll wrap up the month of July and start of Quarter 3 as related to my own projects, life and events.

Blythe dances to the drumbeat with the gorgeous people of Cologne Dyke March

July Jollies

July was a wet one, brought full Summer in Cologne and I basked in the warmth, as well as events such as:

  • Cologne PRIDE / Christopher Street Day weekend, highlights for me included a peaceful, colorful, and well-attended Dyke March, live music at the street fest and the big parade with friends (yes, even in the rain, we show up!)
  • 4th of July meditations on independence, liberation, freedom
  • Turned in reports on my elective courses from School Year 2024-5
  • Found out that I have the exciting opportunity to teach daily ballet classes for the Advanced Dance Program from Studio 29 Berlin here in Cologne this fall
  • Orthopedist visit about my hip/back pain (more info after imagining in September…) and had a minor tooth chip smoothed at the dentist, whew!
  • German Tax Return information ready to file
  • “Fly July” insect invasion, evacuation (and other flighty inspirations that would also inform August creations…)
  • Burgunder Weinfest: Wine Fest among the grape fields with my favorite Rose, Ela’s mom, friends, music, food and all the good things
  • Nectarine season

Bullet Journaling & Planning

Because of its role in my creative process, journaling has become a part of my YouTube channel content along with dance, yoga, and joyful living. Here’s my monthly behind on what I got up to in my notebooks and life in July 2025:

July Flip & Reflection – Creative Journaling BuJo video on YouTube

I shared my initial monthly setup in my Seasonal Book on Instagram here with shades of blue and butterflies then the flip-through video above shows what happened with my goals, glows, media favorites, and events “after the pen.”

Updated my Monthly, Weekly, and Daily Logs, Annual Collections, and set up my August spreads over the course of the month, continued to savor writing my Morning Pages and notes with colorful inks in my fountain pens.

Teaching & Coaching

Regular Mindful Movement classes in Balletlicious Ballet Barre+ and Yummy Gentle Yoga, studio classes in Ballet continued, and my “Feel Good” wellness course and Hip Hop elective came to a close for the school year with a special field trip.

There is currently one coaching slot available in my weekly schedule, and in February I started planning upcoming offerings such as coaching sample sessions (message to schedule), workshops, and guest teaching in Cologne coming up.

Blythe lunging forward onto a bench in a screenshot from the Splits this Season series
Blythe lunging forward onto a bench in part 1 of the Splits this Season series

Writing & Publishing Articles

In July I published 3 articles to the blog here at ablythecoach.com This is a great place to find out what I am up as well as other experts and creators who I recommend.

July’s new articles:

  • May Replay – 2025 Month 5 Reflection: in May, I had one more week of work and play on the Big Island, several days of travel back to Cologne, then jumped jetlagged back into teaching, coaching, publishing and celebrating there! Felt at home in both Hawai’i and Germany, both happy and homesick in each location.
  • Jolly Roger July & a Piratical Summer – being freedom, treasure & adventure brought the Swashbuckling Summer vibes: Though I may not want a life on the open sea myself, I was raised on sailing and pirate stories and appreciate the ethos of freedom, treasure, and adventure. What better time to embark on a fantastical journey of imagination than summer?
  • 5 Steps to Soar into the Splits this Summer – Season of Stretching welcomes you to the Splits this Season series! This sequence of videos demonstrates a variety of stretching shapes from which to choose to adapt your condition and mood as well as encouragement and accountability to practice most days and achieve improved flexibility, performance, and comfort. This article and the accompanying SPLITS this Season Video Playlist on YouTube provide lots of tasty options for moving towards your splits, soon!

Filming & Sharing Videos

I published 5+ videos (additional bonuses exclusively for my online students to review between classes) to the A Blythe Coach YouTube Channel on the topics of dance, creativity, and purposeful living in July:

Get Your Splits this Season – Part 1 Lunge with Support video on YouTube
  • Get Your Splits this Season – Part 1 Lunge with Support – Season of Stretching Dance Mobility video on YouTube Welcome to Splits this Summer, a challenge to work towards the splits this season, in support of your dance & athletic training goals (as appropriate to your condition and in consultation with your physician like always!). This mini-series will demonstrate a variety of stretching shapes to adapt your condition and mood, encouragement and accountability to practice most days and achieve improved flexibility, performance, and comfort. Part 1 here features supported lunges we can do from a standing position without getting down on the floor, with a stable bench or ballet ballet barre. Practice while warm, most days, work up to holding at least 30 seconds/32 counts.
June BuJo Flip & Reflection video on YouTube
  • June BuJo Flip & Reflection is a flip-through of the month in my Seasonal Bullet Journal Book, a peek at my Morning Pages notebooks and completed/used-up “empties” of supplies used, media published & personally consumed, high & lowlights and special events.
May 2025 Flip & Reflection on YouTube
  • May 2025 Flip & Reflection: May memories include time with family and friends on the Big Island of Hawai’i and returning to Cologne, coping with jetlag, teaching and creating prolifically.
Twenty 25s in 2025 Midyear Check-In – Projects Q2 Update video on YouTube
Quick Kitchen Kitri – ballet variation – no instruction small space video on YouTube
  • Quick Kitchen Kitri – ballet variation rough draft – no instruction small space for student use: Let’s grab a fan and feel the heat of the Spanish summer in this 1.5 minute ballet variation, adapted for online intermediate ballet learners dancing in small spaces at home, demonstrated from the back for practice purposes. The extract is from Act III of the ballet “Don Quixote” and is full of imperfections, but I hope my students have fun reviewing the material, and others get a sense of how we dance together in the online setting.

Connecting: Email & Social Media

The best way to keep up-to-date on everything I’m coaching, teaching, creating and sharing about as well as work from others that I believe to be of value for fellow creatives is to subscribe to my weekly email newsletter. It lights me up to see new subscribers there as well as responses to me missives.

I sent 5 Email Newsletters in July:

In addition, I posted 4 times to Instagram, my favorite being this one:

You are Safe with Me pin on Blythe's backpack strap
You are Safe with Me pin on Blythe’s backpack strap, a score from Cologne PRIDE 2025

Creative Challenges

Teaching Artist, Choreographer, Movement Educator & Coach, I get to explore my soul’s expression through my work, and face new challenges each month. Some I design myself, and some I take on at the impulse of other creators.

For my summer celebration of (comparative) freedom and self-determination, I declared Jolly Roger July, in the article above, as well as a flexibility goal for myself and students to soar into the Splits this Summer, doing a Midyear Refresh, and showing up for Cologne PRIDE and Nonbinary People’s Day.

Twenty 25s in 2025

Above is my video update on my “Twenty 25s,” a playful way to track various leading metrics, projects and activities I wish to keep an eye on this year through the end of June, which I compiled in July.

At the midyear point I reached 11/20, over halfway there and I plan to continue to apply myself to these activities and take another look at the end of Quarter 3.

Silk textiles at hanging at an inspiring literature & media art exhibit

Media Musings

My July in reading, listening, and viewing pleasures:

Books & Reading

Books Read

I completed another novel in July from the Feminine Pursuits romance series by Olivia Waite (my 3rd) as well as a Rom-Com in a contemporary setting:

Still reading along on some of my nonfiction picks (also scripture, personal growth):

Listening Highlights

Favorite things heard over the course of the month go here, such as concerts, songs, pieces of music, playlists, podcasts and more.

Burgunder Weinfest / Wine Fest among the grape fields with my favorite Rose
Music: Live

A musical highlight from Cologne Pride was stumbling into a band called The Titty Twisters, who performed some very decent covers including “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan, who despite global fame still has gone somehow unnoticed by many of our friends who were bemused when we started dancing our faces off. Also saw an entertaining band and lots of folks filled the dance floor at the wine fest.

Playlists & Albums
Songs & Pieces of Music
  • Speaking of “​Dancing in the Street​,” Martha Reeves & The Vandellas created the classic
  • Wildlight’s “Honey” was current music to move to, along with
  • “The Crowd” by Zero 7 was my chill warmup tune
  • “Suga Suga” by Baby Bash: I have to laugh that this one-hit wonder came to mind, but it really reminds me of a time, and also has to do with the butterflies that fluttered through my month

Monthly Viewing Highlights

July sights included…

Live Performance

Cologne Academy of Media Arts opened its galleries to viewers for special showings and I was refreshed by diverse techniques and topics, including a good friend and another writer who read from works about Silk Moths, textile trade and family history in Italy, and the misunderstood lives of moths and related household “pests.”

Film
Series

Standout series seen:

Cologne Academy of Media Arts providing me with artistic inspirations

Questions for Reflection

  • What was special about your July?
  • How do you create safer spaces for yourself and others?
  • What will you savor before end of summer?
  • What fantasy character will you adventure as next: pirate, fairy, mer-person, prince/ss, unicorn, dragon…?
  • What creative pursuit are you leaning into this month?
  • How may I support your journey?

Resources for Further Exploration

Further monthly reflections for 2025, special workshops and collaborations in dance, coaching, creative living and more coming soon.

Thank you for reading, for being, and for dancing with me, in spirit or in fact!

Take care of yourself and keep moving mindfully, let me know how if I can be of service, would love to see you in my email newsletter or on social media as well.

Blythe Stephens, MFA & Bliss Catalyst
they/them or she/her
Creator of A Blythe Coach @ablythecoach
helping multi-passionate creatives dance through their difficulties,
taking leaps of faith into fulfillment through coaching, yoga & dance education

Be Buoyant like a Butterfly – Flights of Fancy – Airy Inspiration Roundup

Light as a feather, fluttering in springtime and summer, having had encounters with butterflies in just about every place I have been, I always feel blessed by their gentle presence.

Butterfly, Schmetterling, Farfalle, Papillon…I love their many names, their movements, the science and the mystery behind their lifecycles.

My late ex mother in law Janine Kirkpatrick’s art faithfully depicting endangered butterflies I find particularly moving. Beloveds do come to mind as a butterfly flits by, and art, literature, poetry, music, and movement all help me embody the qualities of the butterflies I marvel at.

I’ve been with butterflies in the Amazon basin jungle, as they flitted above rivers and road-crossing streams and were captured under glass, others eager to lick our salty feet on the Appalachian Trail, migrating Monarchs in California and friends all along the coasts, parading across the black sand beach at home on the Big Island, in New Zealand, the UK and Europe, even a rescue on the bus in Cologne for which I tell the story below.

Most recently a friend’s literature reading at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne, with two artists sharing work about silk moths (and trade) and a few mothy family members, nudged me to share these as well as many more flights of fancy and airy inspirations to delight.

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” – Mohammed Ali

Butterfly in flight in Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i, 2023

Butterfly Poems

In spring and summer, I find Butterfly poetry especially evocative, just lovely for romancing everyday life, inspiring creative dance sessions with children, adults, or solo, or other flights of fancy and artistic pursuits:

  • “Seven White Butterflies” by Mary Oliver, which I read in the Spring Poetry Selections video below
  • “Spring” by Mary Oliver features both birds & butterflies, also in Spring Poetry Selections
  • “My Butterfly” by Robert Frost is a sad, serious verse
  • My own Haiku #250 from 2021:

Insects on the wing

flowers bloom, dragonflies zip

butterfly garden

Spring Poetry Selections on YouTube includes Mary Oliver’s “Seven White Butterflies”

Butterfly Books

There’s surely a host of beautiful books about and featuring butterflies, but here’s a start to my own list in addition to the books containing the poems above:

  • Veronica Speedwell, lepidopterist romantic mystery series by Deanna Rayburn
  • Schmetterlinge von Hermann Hesse, collection in a gorgeously illustrated edition I got in hardback with a gift certificate from one of my ballet classes

Butterfly Escape Story

Last Friday, a client of my partner Ela’s graphic design firm Pixelchen und Karton and a professional colleague of mine in the wellness and movement space invited us to her new institute space in Rondorf, a pretty suburb of Cologne. We embraced it as a little end-of-week escape. 

We get on the subway in early afternoon, Ela in the summer version of her graphic designer outfit, laptop in its vintage leather case, me in my dancer/yogi athleisure including a flowy new top from Petra, Ela’s fashionable mom. It is lovely to be outside,  and warm enough that people are fanning themselves on the train. Coming above ground again, we don our sunglasses and get off at one of the city’s historic gates, Chlodwigplatz, walking kitty corner to join a group of folks waiting for the bus to continue our journey.

The bus in the other direction passes, another number goes by, then ours, the 132 comes, a big one with accordion in the middle and air conditioned. It’s nearing a roller-coaster thrill bouncing along the ancient city streets at the hinge point for a while, but I still notice a peculiar movement pattern in the corner of my eye. A butterfly is fluttering outside the window! No, inside the window! Throwing itself against the glass desperately, then landing, being jostled into flight again, folks seated along the window moving a bit out of the way, perturbed but tolerating its violent flapping. The poor thing! Ela and I are both concerned about the creature’s plight as we continue the rollicking ride.

A few stops later we are able to sit down facing rear, and we continue to observe the butterfly’s pathetic struggle back and forth along the window, flapping, landing, flying again. There are no flowers here, no nectar, no plants of any kind, no water, and no friends it seems. And it’s apparently not going to make its way back out on its own. Stop after stop people get on and off, the increasingly fatigued-looking insect thrashing onward, and I vow to do my best to help it safely disembark. Ela says if its still on the bus at our stop, I can try to save it. 

Finally we’re at the stop before we have to get off and I’m sidling back to a thankfully empty seat near it, explaining to a person seated across that I was going to try to catch it without hurting it. They had concerns that the wings would be damaged, but I just knew that if I didn’t try to get it out it might be smashed or die on the bus from other causes. I reached across and almost snatched it, darting quickly away, flying wildly once more. “Willst du wirklich nicht mit?”

It slows a little and I lunge in again, managing to gently encircle it with both hands, enough space around it to not damage its precious wing scales, antennae, or legs, but fingers closed enough where it couldn’t slip out. It flutters against my fingers, a chaotic tickle, then stands still. I walked to the door and waited by Ela. Finally the bus comes to a halt and we get off, it pulls away. The wind breezes by and we stand in the sun again, where I gingerly open my hands. 

Our friend the butterfly stands there, clinging to my finger. Now it does not want to let go, having surrendered its fate to me, perhaps even grateful to be bathed in light again, with fresh air and open sky. I try to get it to step onto a pole, a wall, but it won’t budge. 

I tell it that its ok, time to be free again! All of a sudden it is up and away, carried above a garden wall and into a back yard, hooray! It is absolutely worth it to try to make the life of another creature better.

A butterfly in Rondorf, outside Cologne, Germany, much like the one in my bus rescue

Butterfly Music

These tracks help me channel my flighty friends:

Butterflies Bullet Journal Spread in my Seasonal Book, 2025

Butterfly-Inspired Movement

Sensational Caterpillar Walks

Sensational Caterpillar Walks dance warmup

Seated Butterfly Creative Stretch

Balletlicious Seated Butterflies is a creative sitting stretch

Catching Butterflies Creative Dance

Butterfly Catching Creative Dance Exploration & Ballet Assemblé video on YouTube

Butterfly Creative Ballet Port de Bras

Butterfly Creative Ballet Port de Bras video on YouTube

Yummy Ballet Seated Stretch video

Yummy Ballet Seated Stretch video on YouTube

Yummy Ballet Reclining Stretch

Yummy Ballet Reclining Stretch video on YouTube

Shake it Off: Stress and Tension Relief

Shake it Off: Stress and Tension Relief video on YouTube for further fluttering fun

Enticing Emboite Allegro

Enticing Emboite Allegro video on YouTube brings in hopping fluttering legs

Batterie: Balletic Leg Beats

Batterie: Balletic Leg Beats video on YouTube to spring and flutter the day away

Qi Gong The Butterfly

Qi Gong The Butterfly from Qigong Meditation on YouTube

Meditation & Relaxation

“There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly.” – Buckminster Fuller quote shared in the Gratitude App

Questions for Reflection

  • Which natural phenomena do you find refreshing, peaceful, or moving?
  • How does the life and movements of the butterfly inspire you?
  • What are your favorite butterfly or flight-related movements, songs, poems, books?
  • Which animals speak to you?
  • What flighty creations are you moved to make?
Some butterflies will lick the salt from your feet as you take a break from hiking (Appalachian Trail, 2002)

Resources for Further Exploration

The best way to keep up-to-date on everything I’m coaching, teaching, creating and sharing about as well as my favorite work from other creators is to subscribe to my weekly email newsletter. Would love to be connected to you there, on social media, online or in-person.

Thanks for reading and moving together in spirit or in fact. Take care of yourself, pay attention, and hope to see you again.

Blythe Stephens, MFA & Bliss Catalyst
they/them or she/her
Creator of A Blythe Coach @ablythecoach
helping multi-passionate creatives dance through their difficulties,
taking leaps of faith into fulfillment through coaching, yoga & dance education

Emancipatory Dance – Dancing Intersectional Feminism

Classical and contemporary dancing as practiced and investigated in the modern context is my absolute creative jam.

This article was originally part of my Theory and Criticism work for my MFA in Dance in 2014, and critical pedagogy and artistic practice continues to be relevant to my teaching, coaching, and creative practice over a decade later.

My perspective has continued to expand with my maturation, experience, and ongoing education, so articulating my philosophy and approach is an ongoing challenge.

Since my graduate school years, I’ve made updates based on my qualitative in-studio encounters and from others who wish to honor the tradition of dance, including classical ballet, while also supporting the whole dancer and society in a contemporary context.

Inspired by the work of Katy Pyle and Ballez and recently came across Anna Morgan‘s research which seems to resonate, to name just a couple examples of ongoing work in this area.

Blythe sits and smiles in front of a bright pink wall

Reflective & Critical Practices in Dance

As with my article Sourcing Ballet Somatically – Pedagogical Approaches to Integrating Movement Techniques, this essay is based on one I wrote during graduate school, taking the approach of critical pedagogy to investigate practices in empowering dancers in the teaching of dance technique and practice of the performing arts.

In that same article, I provide a brief history of ballet education that provides helpful context, and share Henry Giroux’s definition of critical pedagogy as “the educational movement, guided by passion and principle, to help students develop consciousness of freedom, recognize authoritarian tendencies, and connect knowledge to power and the ability to take constructive action.”  (Giroux, 2010) 

Teaching artists and choreographers can approach pedagogy and praxis critically, with the aim of empowering dancers and students to think critically and make connections, applying knowledge to all areas of their lives.     

My Perspective  

I have been an intersectional feminist for decades because oppression affects people disproportionately according to gender, race, class, country of origin, religion and many other marginalized identities. Regardless of degree, discrimination impacts EVERYONE in society negatively, through internalized bias, unachievable standards, goals misaligned with our values and inner knowing.

Alongside my public school education in Hawai’i, I participated in pre-professional ballet and dance training from the age of 5, going on to conservatory education at North Carolina School of the Arts, performance on the continental US, Hawai’i, and Europe, an MFA in Dance Performance & Choreography from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, leadership in the Performing Arts as the President of the Dance Coalition of Oregon and more.

Though my dance training has been broad-based, including renowned international teachers, there is still a pervasive hierarchical structure to classical dance that has far-reaching impacts and some dancers, companies, and educators continue to explore.

Given my vision and mission, this will continue to be an area of research, contemplation, discussion, and experimentation as I continue in the field, and I look forward to engaging with you about it too, here in the online space and in person.

Dancing Feminist Essay

As I shared (in 2014) in my interest area presentation and handout, “What are the political implications of dancing?” I can relate to Aristotle, in that I am a philosopher with a stone in my shoe, I always feel it when I walk, urging me on to deeper investigation.

I was influenced by Laurent Deveze’s talk at the Festival a Corps 2014, “What does the dancer want to say?” particularly his alignment between politics and art. As the Director of the Institut Superieur des Beaux-Arts and a former cultural attaché to Los Angeles, Deveze draws on multiple disciplines.

From Deveze’s lecture, which was accompanied by a slideshow of works of art and covered a wide swath of world history, I gleaned five major themes of what has been and can be said with dance:

  1. Socialization, coming together, celebration
  2. Power, domination, exclusion, maintenance of order
  3. Prayer, communion with god, spiritual practice
  4. Self-expression, communication
  5. Resistance, activism

In one way or another, I have participated in each of these modes: line dancing at weddings, participating in religious processionals, venting deeply-felt emotions, showing my expertise as a teaching artist, and sticking it to the man. Of particular interest at the moment are the methods of resistance via dance, as an expression of feminist activism, or the political implications. Dance can be deeply disruptive, transformative, and emancipatory. Indeed, the very flow, or disrupted flow of the dance can be seen to threaten the future of dance itself!

(“Introduction: The political ontology of movement“)

Deveze drew the distinction between pyramidal power and circular inclusion that I believe is at the crux of the politics of dance.

Opening New Potentials for Living

In the introduction to “Dance and Politics,” The political ontology of movement Andre Lepecki discusses how,

“The act of partitioning and the affirmation of the new would define art’s relation to politics and thus turn both into co-determined, corresponding activities aimed at the formation of ‘dissensus’ – a concept (or ‘element’) that for Ranciere is at the core both of art and politics, since it is tied to the rupturing of daily habits, to the creation of ontological-perceptual disjunctions, eccentric movements in language and sensation, to the disbanding of circulatory imperatives tied to linguistic and behavioral clichés for subjectivity.” (Lepecki p.154)

Lepecki further cites Agamben, who stated how politics and art share a preoccupation with “opening up potentials for living life.” (Lepecki p.154) Education also shares this aim!

But how does a dancer, choreographer, or teaching artist actually go about opening up these potentials for living life by disrupting the status quo? There are several, probably many, ways that dance enacts resistance and change, including engaging in emancipatory choreographic working processes of choreography and education, and providing distinct political messages in one’s work. I will briefly address the former here.

Addressing patriarchy, set gender roles, balance of power and representation will provide further areas for exploration.

Choreographic Collaboration

As a choreographer and dancer, one can choose to engage in non-hierarchical working structures to dispense with the hierarchical pyramid and attempt to engage in an inclusive circle of creation. Isabelle Schad touches on the difficulties of collaboration in “Embryology as Choreography,” particularly the section On Emptying Out Words and Current Tendencies in Dance and Performance:

“They become both: a reality of working and a fertile ground for misunderstanding and commercialism, in which meaning is lost […].It is therefore not only about finding truthful solutions for how to work with each other without anybody losing her/his body of work, but also about discovering strategies to transform and resist the conditions of the market.” (Schad p. 280)

The issue of non-hierarchical collaboration is very complex and can itself be co-opted by the market, but it opens up new artistic and political possibilities so is worth the struggle. Especially since, as Schad observes in the section On Trying to Resist: “I am also continually astonished by how much people like each other. Dancing and dancing together becomes a pleasure. This very archaic and deep pleasure is located in the body.” (Schad p.281)

Addressing Hierarchy in Education

In addition to choreographic collaboration, the educational realm is another fertile ground for political difference-making by way of dance. Critical and feminist pedagogy considers issues of race, class, and gender that “define and play out in the educational forum.” (Wootten p.123) Claire F. Wooten asks, “How can we invigorate the transformative educational agenda of post-secondary education in a studio environment dripping with an imperative of compliance?” I struggle with this issue so much in my own work as a dance educator and feminist, and sometimes it feels as if my desire to educate students on dance technique (particularly ballet but also modern dance) and my desire to free them to become creative and critical thinkers, are at cross-purposes.

Do I exercise heavy-handed authority to keep the order and make sure we stay on task at the cost of creative experimentation and new discoveries? Or do I create an open forum of educational collaboration and risk chaos?

This trend continues to this day, particularly in higher education, but also online and in other communities, where choreographers teachers aim to balance exploratory concepts with sound technique training and extraordinary performances.

Wootten suggests several methods for “Navigating Liminal Space in the Feminist Ballet Class,” hinging on the recurring themes of feminist pedagogy: authority, experience, and collaboration.

I have been working to integrate Wootten’s feminist pedagogical methods with increasing success over approximately the last year in my teaching practice:

  1. Authority- mastering recall and performance of set class material, developing personal style through improvisation, assisting one another as partners and colleagues, reflecting on and assessing their own work

2. Experience- acting as peer coach/tutor, improvising, self-evaluating

3. Journaling- exercising observational, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills, reflexive

Questions for Reflection

  • How can we (artists, educators, students, community) promote respect and equality at the same time as expressive excellence?
  • What values and principles are key to your creative work?
  • What examples of innovative work in the performing arts do you wish to emulate?
  • Which artists, choreographers, theorists, and writers should I check out next?

Resources for Further Exploration

Works Cited 

  1. “What does the dancer want to say?” Laurent Deveze, live lecture, Festival a Corps 2014
  2. “Navigating Liminal Space in the Feminist Ballet Class,” essay by Claire F. Wooten, “How can we invigorate the transformative educational agenda of post-secondary education in a studio environment dripping with an imperative of compliance?
  3. “Embryology as Choreography,” essay by Isabelle Schad
  4. Introduction to “Dance and Politics,” by Andre Lepecki

I stand for full self-realization, respect for diverse identity and personal & artistic expression!

Further topical explorations, special workshops and collaborations in dance, coaching, creative living and more coming soon.

Thank you for reading, for being, and for dancing with me, in spirit or in fact!

Take care of yourself and keep moving mindfully, let me know how if I can be of service, would love to see you in my email newsletter or on social media as well.

Blythe Stephens, MFA & Bliss Catalyst
they/them or she/her
Creator of A Blythe Coach @ablythecoach
helping multi-passionate creatives dance through their difficulties,
taking leaps of faith into fulfillment through coaching, yoga & dance education

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