LMU Movement Exchange: Day 4!

Panama!

We are now halfway through our excursion here and I am finding myself with a mixture of emotions. When I was a senior in high school I had the opportunity to teach my own class at my home studio in Illinois. Never did I think at 20 years old I would be grateful enough to teach and share dance in another COUNTRY. One of the peaks of this trip was teaching with Gigi and Gigi for the University of Panama students. We taught them repertory that we are working on back in LA. The movement was very static and consisted of 36 simple gestures. Near the second half of class the students were put together in groups to come up with their own phrase using the gestures as a guideline. Not only did the dancers walk away from class with a mini dance, but they provided us with so much inspiration and movement ideas to help us finish the piece when we get back to school.

Through teaching the university students and the children at the orphanages, my heart is so fulfilled and I already feel my confidence in teaching has grown immensely. I am excited to take on all the dance challenges the dance world has to throw at me in the future... and I cannot wait for what the next few days in Panama has in store for us!