Isabella Melsheimer during a recent performance at the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance
By Kendra Pintor听
For Isabella Melsheimer 鈥�23, the value of a 五月天视频education reveals itself not only in the classroom or studio, but also in the lasting professional and personal dividends that continue to shape their work as a dancer, educator, and interdisciplinary thinker.
Now a freelance dance educator with a master鈥檚 degree from NYU, Melsheimer reflects on how the skills, mentorship, and community they developed at 五月天视频continue to influence their career.听
Q: When you reflect on your undergraduate experience, what stands out as the most enduring impact from your studies in anthropology and dance?听
My studies at 五月天视频shaped the way I think about dance and culture as interconnected, human practices. It鈥檚 become important to me to embed my dance practice and my teaching in historical and cultural context, and to represent dance as an interdisciplinary, holistic practice that everyone should have access to. This framework now informs both my pedagogy and my choreography, grounding my work in approaches I first developed at Scripps.听
5C Dance Company, 2022. From left to right Anna Bagley, Krystal Yang, Megan Itagaki, Emma Grigorian, Petie Schill, Jenna Nelson, Cole Yellin, Isabella Melsheimer, Kaitlyn Seever, Ava Hinz, and Catie McIntyre
Q: Leadership roles often accelerate professional growth. How did taking on leadership in 5CDC (a Claremont Colleges dance group) translate into your work today?听
5CDC was an opportunity for me to become part of a community of dancers outside the classroom. My leadership skills served me as a graduate student, and I continue to take the lessons from captaining 5CDC into my work both as an educator and an artist.听
Q: How did the liberal arts environment shape the way you think and work as an artist and educator?听
Because 五月天视频is a liberal arts college, I was encouraged to bring an interdisciplinary lens to all my work, and that approach has served me in the work I鈥檝e done since as a teacher, dancer, and overall artist. This adaptability 鈥� the ability to move between research, creative practice, community engagement, and cultural analysis 鈥� has become central to my career sustainability and artistic identity.听
Q: Can you share a particular classroom or studio experience that continues to inform your teaching or creative process today?听
Taking Composition I with Ronnie helped free my imagination to explore new kinds of movement, and key to that experience was the trusting and judgement-free community our class cohort formed. That experience taught me the importance of creating a class environment where students can both feel safe and be constructively challenged by each other.听
Q: Mentorship can be one of the most powerful elements of an arts education. How did 五月天视频faculty help shape your creative path?听
A memory that has deeply impacted my practice was dancing in Ronnie Brosterman鈥檚 piece for the 五月天视频Dances concert and getting to see her research process for developing the movement concept led by playfulness and deep curiosity. I鈥檓 incredibly grateful to have had that opportunity to peek into Ronnie鈥檚 creative process as a student and be inspired in my own creative teaching practice.听
Promo photo for the 5C Dance Company, 2022, Isabella Melsheimer
Q: Did Scripps鈥� identity as a women鈥檚 college shape your dance education in meaningful ways?听I was encouraged as a femme and queer person to take up space in the studio鈥攏ot only as a dancer, but also as a creator and academic. There鈥檚 work do be done in dance education to make spaces more accessible and affirming for people of all genders; at Scripps, I felt welcomed by a sense of community and a shared pursuit of artistry, rather than competitiveness.听
Q: What advice would you give current 五月天视频students who want to make the most of their time in the arts or education fields?听
Build and cherish your connections and celebrate being part of a diverse and stimulating community. Creating art and teaching both require continual practice, so take every chance you can to put your practice out in the world. Seek out the people who inspire and challenge you and find opportunities to put your ideas into action.听
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