“Since applying for the Willson Fellowship, I secured a contract with Routledge for my book Aerial Arts and Dance Improvisation: A Practical Guide to Creativity for Aerialists, and at the completion of my fellowship year, I submitted the full manuscript for peer review. The anticipated book release will be in late 2025 or early 2026. The Willson Center Research Fellowship had a significant impact on my work for the 2024-25 academic year. In simple terms, the course release translated into approximately eight hours per week each semester that I used for dedicated writing sessions. This consistent time anchored my writing practice throughout the year.

In less easily quantified terms, however, the Willson Fellowship provided an invaluable space for my creative and scholarly research practices to breathe and integrate. It supported me in setting this year apart in my own mind to prioritize my research interests, which are oftentimes the easiest to sacrifice when the demands of teaching, choreographing, and directing require immediate attention. Additionally, I believe that the fellowship had a beneficial impact on my students, especially those involved in the practical research for the book. Many had not previously considered that our physical creative practices are a vital topic for academic inquiry. The validation that the Willson Fellowship lent to my research project encouraged my students to see their own dance practices in a new and more multifaceted light.”