118: Learning from My Students — Jeffrey Edwards

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This week on 5.6.7.EIGHT, Aleksandra interviews Jeffrey Edwards, dance professor at</span> <a href="https://www.juilliard.edu/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">The Juilliard School</span></a><span style= "font-weight: 400;">.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">During his run as a performer, Jeff was a leading dancer for the New York Ballet, the Zurich Ballet, and the Lyon Opera Ballet. Edwards, who holds a degree from Brown University, has taught for conservatories and professional ballet companies around the world</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">and</span> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">has taught ballet at Harvard, Cornell, Princeton, Yale, and Brown. Additionally, he’s been able to choreograph various works, including the Broadway musical Billy Elliot.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jeff knows that, for the truly successful, learning never ends. And, if any group has pushed him to be a lifelong learner, it’s been his students. On the podcast, Jeff reflects on the pride he feels as a Juilliard faculty member, the daily challenge of teaching such talented students, his own run as a student being trained by some of the world’s most successful artists, and so much more.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Moving Quotes:</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"At Juilliard, you have these very curious young adults who are so talented and so steeped in potential — very hungry for information. It makes me want to remain a perpetual student as well. It's so much about the learning... I'm inspired to be in the room with students who are always learning."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[On teaching dance to non-dance students] "I love the idea of coming up with language that is inclusive and can really inspire a broader public to be excited about what we do."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"The creativity of parenting... I feel like I'm a better parent because of my intense work as an artist — it's informed my parenting in