The University of Alabama

Instructor

At UA I teach undergraduate and graduate technique and theory courses for both majors and non-major students.

Fall 2022
DNCA 570 - Graduate Research Methods in Dance
DNCA 595 - MFA Capstone Scholarly Research
DN 595 - MFA Capstone Creative Research

Cleveland State University

Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance & Artistic Director of CSU Dance Company

At CSU I taught technical and theoretical courses to support CSU dance majors & minors, theatre majors & minors, and non-departmental students’ interests and pursuits in dance. As the Artistic Director of the CSU Dance Company, I curate the annual dance concert, produce and set choreography, and collaborate with guest artists and other departments on campus.

Willamette University

Visiting Assistant Professor & Artistic Director of Dance

As the Artistic Director of Dance at Willamette University, I was responsible for teaching various studio-based technique courses and curating the annual dance concert.

Spring 2018
DAN 284 - Ballet I
DAN 491 - Special Topics: Jazz Dance Technique & History

University of Oregon

Graduate Teaching Fellow (GTF)

For all of the courses listed below, I was the instructor of record and was responsible for designing, implementing, and teaching all course material. All of these courses were open for enrollment to dance majors/minors and non-majors/minors at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. 

Fall 2014
DANC 172 - Ballet I
DANC 399 - Hip Hop II
 

Fall 2015
DANC 272 - Ballet II
DANC 375 - Jazz III
DANC 399 - Hip Hop II
 

Fall 2016
DANC 171 - Contact Improvisation
DANC - 275 - Jazz II
DANC 372 - Ballet III

Winter 2015
DANC 175 - Jazz I
DANC 275 - Jazz II
DANC 399 - Hip Hop II

Winter 2016
DANC 270 - Modern II
DANC 271 - Dance Improvisation
DANC 272 - Ballet II
DANC 375 - Jazz III

Winter 2017
DANC 172 - Ballet I
DANC 270 - Modern II
DANC 272 - Ballet II
DANC 372 - Ballet III

Spring 2015
DANC 170 - Modern I
DANC 199 - Hip Hop I
DANC 372 - Ballet III

Spring 2016
DANC 272 - Ballet II
DANC 375 - Jazz III
DANC 399 - Hip Hop II
 

Spring 2017
DANC 271 - Dance Improvisation
DANC 272 - Ballet II
DANC 272 - Ballet II
DANC 399 - Hip Hop II

Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA)

Fall 2015

DAN 260 - Anatomy of Human Movement

Fall 2016

DAN 351 - Dance Composition I

Alma College, Alma, MI

Groundworks Dance Theatre, Cleveland, OH

University of Oregon, Eugene, OR

Boulder Jazz Dance Workshop, Boulder, CO

Celebrity Cruises, Miami, FL

Crater Renaissance Academy, Central Point, OR

North Bend High School, North Bend, OR

Eugene Ballet Academy, Eugene, OR

That's the Point Dance, Chelsea, AL

Debbi's Dance, Olympia, WA

Pressure Point Performing Arts, Childersburg, AL

Shirley's Studio of Dance, Sylacauga, AL

Competitive Adjudication Work

Dance Troupe Inc., Director of Judges & Senior Adjudicator

State One National Dance Competitions, Senior Adjudicator

Encore DCS National Dance Competitions, Adjudicator

Testimonials from Cleveland State University Students: 

“Professor Henderson is a demanding, yet enjoyable and encouraging teacher. He always leaves you wanting to dive further in and explore more with movement and conceptual ideas. His knowledge of dance history is extremely solid with a wide range and his passion for furthering his own knowledge is prevalent. His knowledge as a movement practitioner in modern, jazz, and ballet is shown in classes as well as in his movement composition. Some of Professor Henderson’s greatest strengths are: • His eagerness to assist students outside of a standard basis, such as offering assistance with research (loaning books), providing recommendations, and connections to an array of resources. • Respect for his students. Mutual respect is expected but also given to all students equally, including being open to learning from his students and engaging in mutually contributive conversations. • His humility and ability to tell a student when he does not know something and his willingness to help find answers. Professor Henderson has helped me to re-find my love for ballet and further explore my love for contemporary dance. My academic dance studies have been challenging; however, Professor Henderson’s excitement for his work and passion for sharing knowledge allowed me to be motivated to also put my passion and hard work forward.” (Sophomore Dance and Pharmaceutical Science Major, Spring 2020)

“Professor Henderson’s teaching is dynamic and exploratory, but planned. We do a warm-up followed by exercises across the floor that tie in to things worked on during warm up, and if we have enough time, we are able to work on combinations in the center that encapsulate everything we have worked on in class. He really likes to take us off of our centers and utilizes partnering as a tool to get to know our classmates as well as trusting one another, seeing what he is seeing and hopefully being able to apply that to our own bodies. Professor Henderson is very passionate about his love for dance and as a professor. He takes his classes seriously and wants us to understand the material, and will take extra time to breakdown movements we are not grasping. He is very knowledgeable of the history of dance and the various disciplines. I really enjoy when we fuse more than one discipline together, whether that be neoclassical ballet, or a jazz fusion class, he is always prepared and ready to teach. He is attentive to the needs of his students. He can read our bodies and our emotions which is critical to the overall morale of the CSU Dance Company. He is also flexible and listens to suggestions we make about class, or choreography. He puts himself in our place and works to be empathetic, fair, and trustworthy. Originally, I was only going to minor in dance, but with encouragement from Professor Henderson I looked into changing that minor to a major. He pointed out that I was already doing the work for it and my second major fills in a lot of the electives needed for the major. He is very encouraging, but not to the point of annoyance. He accepts some limitations but always knows when we can give the extra inch. I am very excited to have him be the Director of the CSU Dance Company.” (Sophomore, Dance and Journalism Major, Spring 2020)

“Professor Henderson's teaching is interactive, encouraging, and student-oriented. Bryant has experience with a broad range of dance forms and he regularly includes many diverse styles in his teaching, including Ballet, Hip Hop, Modern, Jazz, and Contemporary. It is clear that he loves teaching by the positivity that he brings to class as well as his willingness to answer questions and ensure that the students clearly understand each concept. Bryant is always looking for student feedback and ways to improve his teaching. He is regularly available for one-on-one meetings and is always willing to discuss any issues or problems you are having in the class. In the traditional classroom setting, he is always trying new ways to make the material engaging and encourages students' critical thinking about how historic material and information can be connected to today's day and age. In the studio setting, he is exceptional about providing individual feedback and ways to improve, while providing a wide-range of examples of artistic choreography-influences and styles. He is very aware of his students' energy and mood each day and changes his teaching approaches accordingly to facilitate an effective learning environment.” (Senior, Spanish and Liberal Studies Major, Spring 2020)

“Professor Henderson is fair and impartial in his treatment of students. He listens to his students, and is interested in them. He understands how to provide corrections, but not criticize. He has good formal and informal communication skills, an asset for any teacher and representative of Cleveland State University. In his ballet classes he employs repetition, both at the barre and on the floor, as needed and by consensus; and his barre work is later incorporated into the floor work. Professor Henderson is thoroughly knowledgeable about the vocabulary of dance. While a comprehensive list (three pages) of French ballet terminology/translation is provided to students the first week of class, he takes every opportunity during the semester to define and apply the ballet terms to movements during class. Later in the semester, students demonstrate their comprehension through both a written and a teacher-demonstrated test. At the beginning of each class, he announces upcoming dance events which he encourages students to attend. Regarding his lecture class (Fall, 2019), Professor Henderson appeared as knowledgeable and as comfortable behind the lectern as he is at the ballet barre. His presentations were diversified and included classroom lecture, PowerPoint presentations, videos, discussion, and a cultural dance demonstration in the studio. His expectations were high and the assignments demanding; in retrospect, I was amazed at the content covered that semester, and was impressed by the creativity and comprehension required for the final student project. The reading requirements both rekindled my interest in the written word and challenged my ability to retain newly-acquired information.” (Project 60 Student, Spring 2020)

Testimonials from University of Oregon Students: 

"Bryant is amazing at connecting with his students and encouraging us to take risks. He encourages everyone to be accepting in class. He plans out organized classes and makes lessons interesting." (Student, Contact Improv, Fall 2016)

"Amazing teacher. Very dedicated to every individual in the class. Very inclusive and open to new ideas." (Student, Jazz II, Fall 2016)

"Bryant's style of movement and teaching is fun and accessible; his demeanor is upbeat and pleasant." (Student, Ballet III, Fall 2016)

"Bryant is always available to answer questions in and outside of class. He cares about students' success, and is always positive when teaching. He is also very knowledgable and skilled in the ballet." (Student, Ballet II, Spring 2016)

"Bryant is great because his choreography is fun and innovative. He checks in on the class to see how we are feeling before every class, and he is enthusiastic about his students dancing to their fullest potential." (Student, Jazz III, Spring 2016)

"Bryant was an awesome teacher and he made me want to get up and dance. He was always enthusiastic and you can tell that he loves what he does. He was always encouraging us to explore new hip hop techniques to broaden our horizons." (Student, Hip Hop II, Spring 2016)

"Bryant is a great instructor, because he is knowledgable and skilled in teaching dance. He is approachable and welcomes feedback from students. Bryant grades assignments fast, is organized, and a fair grader. He constantly checks in with how students are feeling in order to structure his class. His choreography was fun and appropriate for the course level. Bryant is always positive. He creates a safe and supportive community environment for students to dance." (Student, Jazz III, Spring 2016)

"Bryant is incredibly fun, and I don't know anyone else who embodies the word better than him. He is funny, engaging, personable, and approachable, and always made sure everyone felt appreciated and comfortable, regardless of what was going on or the difficulty of the material." (Student, Hip Hop II, Spring 2016)

"He was super enthusiastic and helpful and sweet and awesome and super talented. Best dance instructor I've ever had." (Student, Modern II, Winter 2016)

"Very agreeable, understanding, easy to reach outside of class, is a joy to watch perform, does a great job of breaking down choreography for those with less experience." (Student, Modern II, Winter 2016)

"Bryant did an excellent job of pushing us all to improvise in new and unusual ways throughout the term, while still respecting the fact that we were all at varying comfort levels with the different exercises. He helped create a safe learning environment and always welcomed our ideas, feedback and suggestions for the different prompts and the course in general. I appreciated his willingness to experiment alongside us and try out things that were unfamiliar to everyone." (Student, Dance Improvisation, Winter 2016)