PUBLICATIONS

Dance Lessons for Writers: Embodied Language Applications for Movement Classrooms
Journal of Dance Education, Volume 21, 2021 - Issue 3: 4E Cognition in Dance Education
  • ABSTRACT: Recent scholarship in 4E Cognition posits what dancers intuitively know so well—that our conceptual maps and communicative strategies emerge directly from and in fluid relationship with our own bodily habitation of our world. This article offers a pedagogical strategy aimed to bridge the ontological divide between dancing and writing through the practice of embodied writing. Or rather, this article offers creative tools for unlearning the antiquated Cartesian notion that a mind-body divide exists in the first place. Quite simply, embodied writing practices help to remind us that the physical gesture of writing is in fact a form of dance. Through the practice of actively joining writing and dancing within one perceptual plane, both our writing and our dancing can improve. As I contextualize embodied writing within the 4E Cognition framework, I will share a teaching methodology aimed to heighten our creative fluency as writers, dancemakers, and interdisciplinary scholars. 

Safety, Social Connection, and Learning: A Polyvagal Theory Framework for Dance Education
Journal of Dance Education, 23 Sep 2024, co-Author Adele Nickel, MFA
  • ABSTRACT: This article explores the relevance of Polyvagal Theory (PVT) to somatically-informed dance teaching methodologies. It aims to provide a neurophysiological basis for understanding the effectiveness of these teaching approaches and offer practical suggestions for how dance educators can incorporate concepts of PVT into their classroom experiences.

Music and Dance: Storytellers of Erosion, Repair, Place, and People
AMPS Journal, 2025 release forthcoming, co-Author Dr. Lynn Vartan
  • ABSTRACT: This article explores the transformative potential of music and dance in processing collective trauma, healing, and storytelling. The article presents a model of artistic collaboration, centered around a 2021 screendance project, Embers & Ash, created at Southern Utah University. The project involved students from the music and dance programs, who, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, used dance and music as vehicles for emotional expression and self-discovery. The choreography, inspired by themes of erosion, isolation, and rebirth, was paired with compositions that reflected loss, anger, and transformation. Embers & Ash combined personal stories with broader historical narratives to deepen the students' emotional engagement and sense of empathy. The outcomes highlight how collaborative artistic processes can empower individuals to reclaim their personal narratives and foster resilience, making Embers & Ash a model for future creative endeavors that seek to harness the healing power of art.










photo by Christopher Peddecord