Bio
Britteny Hyslip is a native of Brockton, Massachusetts and grew up studying at a local dance studio. After high school, she expanded her dance knowledge through the Bachelors of Arts in dance program at Dean College in Franklin, Massachusetts, where she studied tap, jazz, ballet, modern, and several levels of dance pedagogy and dance composition. Britteny Is now in her tenth year working in public education. Starting as an associate teacher for Spark Academy in Lawrence Massachusetts, Britteny had a mission to start a successful middle school dance program that would leave students motivated to be in school and feel like part of something important. Throughout the five years at Spark Academy, Britteny positioned herself to be affluent outside of the dance classroom as well, working in small group tutoring for math and science, the lead fifth and sixth grade Read 180 reading intervention program, and the founding advisor for Women of Spark, the all female eighth grade advisory that helped young women navigate school and life.
Transitioning to high school education, Britteny began strong, directing dance productions with over two hundred students while simultaneously being a representative for the Teacher Leadership Team to be a voice and create solutions for the elective team to grow as a unit. Miss Hyslip continued to work alongside her co-director of the Lawrence High School dance program in community outreach; working with the City of Lawrence to bring performances to their Semina Hispana celebrations every June, the Lawrence International Book Fair, and dancing for the Peruvian Consulate in Boston. Lawrence high school gave Britteny the opportunity to broaden her horizons on how dance can positively affect the community, especially in more diverse spaces. While with Lawrence High School, Britteny also received many opportunities to grow her own education with training through REvolution Latina, Led by Luis Salgado, The pilot program of the Latinx Studies through Wellesley University, and Restorative Justice training through Suffolk University.
After nine years in Lawrence, Britteny made the transition to Brookline High School. While at this school, Miss Hyslip was able to focus her classroom back on technique, performance, and reflective practices, as well as help spread school spirit with the dance team, and direct a large scale dance show as a solo teacher. Brookline taught Britteny countless beneficial lessons on teacher autonomy, team work, and how to truly apply feedback to the classroom’s day to day practices.
Outside of school, Britteny is still a growing learner and dancer herself. Britteny is currently celebrating her eleventh year as a member and choreographer of Kinetic Synergy Dance Company, located in Norwell Massachusetts. Through her tenure with the company she has performed in countless community and company held performances. Britteny continues training outside of the company through open dance classes at studios across the Greater Boston area, celebrating classes in culture, style, and technique. At this time Britteny is in her third Semester of her masters degree in dance education through the University of Northern Colorado. So far, this program has helped her in growing her dance writing as well as building the skills to change the trajectory of our dance histories to include those of our ethnographic roots, as she continues her work of her thesis in building social emotional learning and community through cultural dance studies.
positionally Statement
I am a white, Mid-thirties, middle class, American female citizen, raised mostly by a single mother. Growing up in a middle-class family in a city that was very diverse, the outside would see me as a privileged individual. I felt safe in educational institutions, around the police, and in mostly white social circles. While in many cases this stands true, I did not have the same in-home experiences of the average middle class white female. My father left at a young age, and i spent many years of my childhood being raised by my step father; an African American man who came up through the foster system. Having his presence in my house greatly impacted my musical taste. Cool and the Gang, Slave, Al Green, Brian McKnight, and The Temptations filled the space of our homes on a regular basis. His presence also changed the way I see racism, as I watched racial acts personally effect someone who was a member of my family. I have gone to professional development circles where people of color were moved to affinity groups and we, as white teachers would group to discuss how we have seen racism. In these moments I felt like I did not belong in either groups, as I was not a person of color, but I was not raised as just a white female.
With a wide age gap between my sister and I, my Dominican brother-in-law came into my life at a very young age, once again impacting my outlook on culture and art. Now my life was filled with mangu, habichuelas, tostones, Quinceaneras, merengue, and bachata. My connections with my brother-in law’s culture mixed with my own inner-city experiences helped to shape the foundations of my first teaching position, working in an inner city that was predominantly of the Latinx community. Students and their families opened their doors to the teachers of the community as we worked together to support their scholars. With the help of my diverse support system, I was able to experience a privatized western dance education while also gaining a diverse social dance education at home.
Teaching Philosophy
As a dance educator in the New England region who bases students' learning on goal setting and reflective practices. I have a strong belief that when students are in control of their education they show more commitment and engagement in the classroom.
As an inner city school teacher, I have held classroom space for students ranging from no experience to double digit years of dance experience and have worked to build sustainable programs that engage various levels of dancers in the same space. My lessons are generated not only to align with Massachusetts core arts standards, but also with the Culturally Responsive Teacher scale. As a teaching goal of creating a collaborative learning space for all students, the first semester of each course encompasses learning different stylized techniques and learning choreography from the teacher followed by creating small group choreography with classmates at the end of each unit. An example of this can be seen during my Bob Fosse unit, where students studied specific body shapes of the technique, learned the original choreography of Bye Bye Blackbird, and All That Jazz, and then worked in smaller groups to create their own modern day stylization of Fosse technique choreography. Furthermore, all pieces for annual spring showcases (I Am Lawrence, Lawrence MA, and Progressions, Brookline MA) are student choreographed with guidance through observation, feedback, discussions and check-ins with choreographers and dancers, and guided play when students feel they are stuck.
As a teacher, I truly believe that dance is for “Every body and everybody” and give my students autonomy in their own learning goals. Students post their individualized goals in the classroom at the beginning of the dance season and track their progress through bi-weekly journaling. At the end of every year students get to share their goals, if they have made progress or achieved their goal, and celebrate with classmates.
I believe in being a lifelong learner myself, and continue to train with exceptional artists all over the Boston area. As the dance world continues to evolve both in technique and in social emotional values, I believe that I have to grow and change along with it for myself and for my students. In this same aspect, I continuously share community classes and performances with my students so they can grow outside of their classroom and experience dance from many different lenses. Along with taking physical classes, I continue my journey to educate myself on dance histories through the University of Northern Colorado and the National Dance Education Organization as I believe it is equally important to be giving my students both correct technique and correct historic knowledge in the classroom.
