SeptEMBER brought the last gasp of Summer in Cologne and I basked in the warmth, as well as events such as the Harvest Moon, Autumn Equinox, back-to-school, Oktoberfest, and more! In this article I wrap up the month of September and Quarter 3 of 2025 in my projects & life.
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.
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 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. Being familiar with the concept of Safer Space codes of conduct in the context of queer nightlife, parties, dances, and demonstrations, the same tenets are applicable in 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.
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.
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.
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.
A sweet spring in Cologne and in the US came to a close, June brought a heat wave, hay fever, relief that a couple critical medical procedures in the family seem to have been successful, end-of-schoolyear, start of the summer, and birthday fests.
In this article I’ll wrap up the month of June, Quarter 2, and the first 6 months of 2025 as a whole in my own projects, life and events.
In May, we 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.
How and why take notes on dance classes & rehearsals?
Research supports the efficacy of notetaking in supporting learning and creativity, now how do we put that into practice and actually make time and space to jot a few ideas down afterwards?.
April revelry took place on two continents and an island, was 50 percent “regular” teaching, creating, and normal publishing schedule and travel prep, 50 percent adventures in several places I feel at home: Portland, Oregon with dear friends like family and Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i with actual family and mentors.
Honored to host and participate in special events along the way, such as World Tai Chi & Qigong Day on the Big Island, a live performance of “The Wizard of Oz Ballet” and a recorded one of the Big Island Choreographers
In a nutshell, my personal themes for the month were Easter & Spring, Love & Friendship, and HOME.
