Teaching
Served as a professor and as the Dance Department Chair at Hope College for 36 years.
With 40+ years of teaching experience, Linda has had the pleasure of educating dancers of all ages in multiple states and institutions, companies and studios. Linda excels in teaching Adult Ballet and Historical Social Dance, and has enjoyed producing and choreographing Balles and Madrigal Dinners with her students for more than 28years.
She is experienced in teaching multiple dance techniques and theory courses, developing lectures on topics related to life post-graduation, dance history, pedagogy, arts in the liberal arts, dance as an antidote for loneliness and as a means to to cultivate empathy, and how lessons learned from working with animals enhances the ability to work with humans, and more!
CHECK OUT LINDA'S
BASIC BARN BALLET BARRE INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE! GO TO BLOG PAGE FOR LINKS TO AN AWESOME YOGA/BALLET BASED WORKOUT DESIGNED ESPECIALLY FOR THE MATURE BODY!!!
Experience
Teaching
1983-2019: Faculty of Hope College in Holland, MI
Tenured Professor, Department Chair fall 2004 – spring 2015
1995- 2005: Choreographer & Modern Instructor for Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp.
1986- 2003: Guest or Summer Modern Dance Instructor for Grand Rapids Ballet
1979 – 1981: Teaching Assistant in Modern and Jazz, University of Illinois
Guest Instructor/presenter for the Michigan Dance Council, Michigan Association of Health. Physical Education, Recreation & Dance and American Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, National Dance Educator’s Organization, National Association of Schools
Teaching Duties at Hope:
Technique
All levels of Jazz and Ballet including Pointe
Repertory
Folk-social-square dance
Theory / Technique
Historical Social Dance: Reconstruction
Independent Studies in Advanced Historical Social Dance Reconstruction:
Accompaniment for Dance (ear training for dancers)
Theory
Dance History Survey
Career Skills and Personal Management
Improvisation
First-year Seminar/ General Education: “The Extraordinary Behind the Ordinary: Understanding Patterns.” team-taught with Math Prof. Mary DeYoung (Math)
Senior Seminar: Leap of Faith
Senior Seminar: Leap of Faith - Paris May Term
Independent Studies in specialized areas