Bio

Shelby is a Canadian dancer, choreographer, performer, and certified yoga instructor settling on unceded Wolastoqiyik and Mi’kmaq territory. Her focus is on Commercial Heels and Street Jazz, but her training over the years has extended to several other styles of dance and movement. Shelby has been dancing and performing since the age of three, training with many top tier dancers and choreographers. She has grown up to instruct varying styles and classes of dance as well as showcasing captivating performances across the Maritimes, consistently using the art of dance as her form of expression. Her passion for dance is what drives her ambition and is what ultimately led her to start her award-winning dance company, Out of My Shel, encouraging those of all backgrounds to step out of their shells to discover their self-confidence through the power of dance.

Residency Project

I intend to use dance as a form of expression and exploration for these high school students in order for them to claim agency over their bodies at an early age. The patriarchal society that we live in imposes many conflicting and misinformed ideas into the minds of minors. I want to focus on sexual identity, and more specifically queer identity, for these students who are just beginning to understand and process their sexuality as well as the power that ensues. We will explore emotion and energy and how we tie feminine and masculine identities to these qualities. We will celebrate the spectrum of different sexual orientations and will discuss how people can contain many different energies and feel no need to conform to labels. Students at this age are very susceptible to their surroundings, so teaching them in a creative way what it means to be a sexual being might be what they need to better understand this concept.

Teaching Experience

I have extensive experience teaching dance to people age 16 and up in varying styles. These students would be this age and slightly younger. I have a good understanding of how to approach these topics with this age group as I have siblings in this age range and I have volunteered with Fierté Fredericton Pride and worked with many people in the queer community on dance projects.