Working as a Teaching Artist, and Dancer with VG/DE has helped me tremendously in growing as an Artist. In helping me keep with my motto, “in learning you will teach, in teaching you will learn”.
Imparting all the knowledge that I’ve acquired through my experience as a Performing Artist and a Teaching Artist, is one of the great joys I get out of doing what I love. Which is bringing an experience to children, and adults alike that may not have had the opportunity to explore.
The Home residency, this year has been pretty eventful! The kids were excited, some of them remembered me from last year! A few of the students, were very eager to share some of their dance experiences with me. Seeing their little eyes, light up when I came on stage was so heart-warming, we had a journey together, moving from being in the classroom with them to being on stage in front of them.
This year I also worked with High Schoolers at Scholars Academy in Far Rockaway. My experience with teaching high school is usually almost like pulling teeth, we all know how high school students are... “cause we’re cool” But This high school - they are ready and so eager to learn and dance they’re so involved it sometimes seems unreal. The energy that I receive for these students just heightens my passion as a Teaching Artist.
I want to say in the past 14 years I have created a mission and refined it, which is to be the voice of encouragement and guidance, for the youth.
I like to sometimes see myself as a “initiator of passion”. Majority of the humans that cross my path love my stories of where I’ve been, or what I’ve been through to get to where I am today. It just really inspires them to not be afraid of taking a risk, take a chance they really never know what will happen.
There are so many examples, but just happened recently at one of the schools I’m doing a residency at.
Story time:-
There’s this little girl no more than 11/12 I want to say she wasn’t even in my dance class but just hanging out, and I noticed she was playing around.
A lot of interesting voices just flowed from her. After “kikiing” with her for a bit I suggested she should look into becoming a voice over actor, of course she has no clue what I was talking about. Fast forward a few weeks, maybe a month of getting to know her and answering her questions about voiceover and acting, she came to me just last week and said her mom is looking to enroll her in a voice over acting class to try it out.
So, yeah that one example, of what I get out of what I do and why I love being a Teaching Artist. I’m just grateful that VG/DE took that chance on me to continue my mission, and to enhance VG/DE community outreach program.
Lawson
