Teaching Philosophy

My teaching style and goal is to awaken creativity and self-confidence within the individual student. To this end my interest lies within the creative process and not necessarily a finished, polished product at the end of the project. I strive to show the student the potential that already exists inside them. 

Young people look outside themselves for confidence and assurance. This comes from a lack of confidence in their own abilities and the environment of peer pressure that young people find hard to resist. This is especially highlighted with something skill oriented such as mime. However despite the fact that mime and physical expression is skill oriented, it is also a very personal expression and it is this aspect of the art that provides a perfect vehicle for my teaching style. It is important that students realize and discover their own personal rhythm and therefore their own unique performing style. 

Mime is perpetually stuck inside the stereotypical white-face guy stuck in a box. The common misconception is that mime is solely the techniques. The truth is that the techniques are only tools and therefore only the beginning. Mime is expression. I place my emphasis on the creative process of developing ideas and images because again, the common misconception is that most mime themes are superficial sketches designed to showcase mime techniques. 

I want the students to discover and reveal the stories and images that lie inside themselves, their own personal creations. In my nineteen years of teaching, students have shown me that young people desire and respond to challenge. My approach to them is the same as my approach to the professional classes I teach. 

The challenge in the creative process is the writing and choreographing of their mime pieces. This is often a complicated series of discussing, editing and associating images that don't appear to have a common link and it is for this reason that I reassure the students by making the performance on the last day a work in progress. This removes the pressure they place on themselves of having to accomplish a finished performance, which time and not possibility usually prevents. 

The creative process and their individual contributions are both the challenge and the accomplishment.

  Behind the art

  I have always been attracted to eyes. When I draw I always seem to start with the eyes first and then the painting or drawing evolves from there. I have never understood why someone would want to cover up the lines or markings on their face. It is the eyes that reflect the true nature of the person. The eyes are linked directly to the heart. The invitation or challenge to the viewer of my art is to look beyond any revulsion or strain they see in the face and see person. The struggle in our lives is not from outside but within.

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