Lynn Neuman

I am a choreographer and teaching artist based in Brooklyn, NY. As Artistic Director and co-founder of  Artichoke Dance Company, my dances and multi-media work have been presented nationally and internationally since 1995 under the auspices of the company. I was a gymnast as a kid, which influences my athletic movement style along with an eclectic dance training including studies in Balinese dance, tango, and contact improvisation in addition to contemporary dance and ballet. I enjoy meddling in other artistic mediums, most recently watercolor and video production, though I secretly dream of welding metal someday. You can see the most recent dance video of a four part series I’m working on at You Tube or at Artichoke Dance Company’s Blog.

The power of the arts to effect positive change in people’s lives and within communities drives a lot of what I do. I work with youths and adults in various capacities to promote cultural literacy and engage people in dance experiences. I’ve been a Lincoln Center Institute teaching artist for ten years and have developed several education and outreach programs for Artichoke Dance Company for youth and senior populations.

I like school and have a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Michigan and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Temple University. I like it so much that I go back from time to time as an artist in residence at colleges and universities across the country to share my work with aspiring dance artists.

You can find me on Facebook and a variety of videos of my dances on You Tube if you search ArtichokeDanceCo.

What I’m reading now:
The Economic Naturalist: In Search of Explanations for Everyday Enigmas
By Robert Frank
Frank is an economics professor at Cornell. I heard a lecture he gave about this book and his education method and was fascinated. What compelled him to develop an engaging way to teach economics, which I see relating to the Narrative Theory of Learning I discuss below, was a study examining the rate of information retention for Economics 101 students. Students tested no better six months after completing the course than they did before taking it. So, then, why bother to teach it? Frank developed and employs an interesting approach. The book provides many examples of his students’ solutions to his assignments.

Interesting resource I’ve come across lately:
Narrative and Learning to Teach: Implications for Teacher-Education Curriculum
By Walter Doyle and Kathy Carter
I had never heard of the Narrative Theory of Learning, but in this article the authors think about how it can be applied to teaching teachers.
http://faculty.ed.uiuc.edu/westbury/JCS/Vol35/DOYLE.HTM

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