About Me

I am a dance educator and artist based in the Willamette Valley, Oregon area. I have been teaching dance for over a decade and have had the opportunity to teach and premiere works throughout the country in states such as Florida, Vermont, Colorado, Maine, and Massachusetts. I love nothing more than showing people how dance can positively impact their lives.

I am originally from the state of Maine, where I grew up dancing modern, ballet, and jazz, and hip hop, and was blessed to be trained for over 12 years by my mentor, Susan Nelson of Waynflete School.

I received my BA in Dance from Mount Holyoke College and the Five College Dance Department in 2015. While at the Five Colleges, I received the 2014-2015 Virginia J. Wagner Award for Excellence in Dance. In 2015, I also completed my Teacher Licensure for Public Education in Dance grades K-12 after completing my student teaching practicum at Amherst-Pelham Regional High School under the guidance of dance educator, Tracy Vernon. For my achievements in teaching, I received the 2014 Richard A. Johnson Prize for Secondary Teaching. I also majored at Mount Holyoke in the Classics department with a concentration in ancient Latin, and have a lifelong passion for ancient culture and classical languages.

My love of dance and education drew me out to the west coast in 2015, where I completed my  MFA in Dance at University of Oregon, graduating in 2018. During my time at U of O, I was a Graduate Teaching Fellow in the Dance Department, where I taught undergraduate courses ranging from modern to ballroom to contact improvisation.

I began socially dancing in Willamette Valley's country-western and ballroom dance communities in 2017. I have never looked back. Social partnering instantly became a large part of my life. I can be found teaching social partnering throughout the Willamette Valley and beyond. 

My interests in partner dancing and the power of human connection have become one of the main focuses in my career.

In 2018, I finished my MFA thesis project, which researched the connections between social partner dancing and collaborative methodologies for creative process. I premiered my thesis screendance, Petrichor, at the 2018 NWACDA at University of Colorado at Boulder.

In 2019, I took my current position at Oregon State University as the Coordinator of Social & Artistic Dance in the Physical Activity Courses Department within the College of Public Health & Human Sciences. I teach a wide range of partner, social, and artistic dance styles, including country-western, ballroom, hip hop, jazz, and more. I also run the Social Dance Teacher and Leadership Training Certificate program through my department, which trains college dancers to teaching social dance in community settings.

I can be found teaching throughout the Willamette Valley at organizations such as Willamalane Parks & Recreation as well as Corvallis Community Center. More information can be found under My Classes I also offer freelance services, including private, semi-private, and special event lessons. More information can be found under My Services.

Additionally, I teach special workshops and events throughout the year.  Visit Workshops & Events for more information.

Myself and my longtime friend and colleague, Bear Scamman, run a weekly country-western dance social with lessons at the Springfield Elks Lodge. More information can be found under Tuesdays @ The Elks. We would love to see you there!

Special opportunities to enhance your dance skills!