Workshops
I am currently an adjunct Faculty at Temple University Boyer College of Music and Dance as well as The School of Public Health. I currently teach Yoga-Iyengar and Alignment-based and meditation both in-person as well as asynch. I teach a Senior Seminar and Graduate Seminar where students learn critical issues facing the field framed from a decolonizing pedagogy centering racial and climate justice and finding their voice within. These courses focus on arts administration and building a resilient portfolio for post-graduation.
I have offered multiple workshops where I teach and facilitate regionally, nationally, and internationally. My workshop offerings range from choreographing, the art of directing, improvisation, performance art, site responsive performance, and collaboration.
Tree, Water, Land: a Site Responsive An interdisciplinary workshop outside connecting land and body
Interdisciplinary Art and Collaboration: A workshop for artists across disciplines from visual art, dance, music, theater. Themes explore building trust and collaboration and working in project-based performance and installation
The Art of Directing: Choreographing workshop
Choreographing race and gender: Identity and performance-making
Selected University Teaching/Facilitating
Temple University, Boyer College of Music and Dance and School of Public Health Adjunct Faculty 2018-present
Carnegie Mellon University School of Art Visiting Artist 2018
Princeton University, Department of Dance Visiting Artist 2018
University of the Arts, Dance Department Faculty 2014-17
The University of Iowa, Grant Wood Fellow in Interdisciplinary Arts 2013-14
The Ohio State University Department of Dance Faculty 2009-13
Selected Community Teaching/Facilitating
Njafane Festival and La Ville En Mouv’ment Dakar, Senegal
Choreograph a site responsive project with 10 dancers and gave workshops to 40 dancers from around Senegal May 2024
Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, Philadelphia, PA Outdoor Environmental Educator 2018-2020
Philadelphia Dance Academy, Philadelphia, PA Youth age 8-16- West African Dance, Site Specific, Choreography 2017-2020
Ingravitas Escencia Dance Company, Tijuana Mexico Two weeks immersive workshops and informal performance at LabSpace. July 2016
Ouagadougou Dance and Drum Study Abroad Program, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Co-direct workshop for students from USA, Uganda, Brazil, Japan, Taiwan, Niger, and Burkina Faso. Students train with African traditional and contemporary choreographers, musicians, visual artists and engage in intercultural collaboration. 2010-15
La Pocha Nostra/Guillermo Gomez Pena, Tijuana Mexico and San Francisco CA Associate Facilitator for Radical Performance Pedagogy 2014-16
Teaching Statement
My philosophy is based in facilitating practice-based interdisciplinary research. I give
students tools to articulate their worldviews by creating a supportive environment. I believe
artists are cultural innovators, healers, activists, educators, cultural diplomats, and change
makers. My facilitation techniques empower the next generation of artists. and to
understand their own strengths and weaknesses and to learn how to collaborate with each
other across borders.
I cultivate a classroom environment where students are encouraged to try new
approaches. My goal is to facilitate a generative sharing space for ideas and art. In order to
do this, inclusion and diversity are central to my philosophy. I tell my students that a
diversity of opinions and multiplicity of viewpoints and perspectives are welcome and
encouraged in the class. I ask students to draw from their lives, social issues that concern
them, and to view/read work of other artists. I try to create a space that encourages
students to engage with the practice of art making as a multiplicity of ways of expressing
oneself and being in the world.
Interdisciplinary performance, collaboration, improvisation, social and environmental
justice are the heart of my work. I want students to experiment with new ways of working,
which includes when they come to me with an idea that they don’t know if they should try, I
frequently encourage them to go for it. I facilitate an environment that is interactive,
collaborative, and promotes problem- solving and critical thinking skills. I find that when I
establish a supportive environment for students from the beginning of the semester, it
allows them to take more risks in their art making.
My students have provided powerful testimonials and these representative samples reflect
my values and priorities:
“Esther has challenged not only how I think about dance, but also race, gender, sexuality,
and political issues. Always tackling issues in a way that is open, free, and "real", I am never
afraid to "go there in" in discussions and feedback. Giving students the space to question
and explore about life and art is something that so many students who have had the
pleasure of having class with her have experienced.” -Carrie
“She does not just teach, but she also instills in her student’s integrity, diversity, desire, and
dignity. You can always depend on her to be in your corner rooting for you. I’ve watched
students transform and become more aware, alert, and proactive because of Esther Baker-
Tarpaga. She lives, breathes, and walks FAITH, HOPE, LOVE, and EQUALITY.” -Onnyx
“She had built the syllabus in a way that we were never just talking about dance. We were
talking about the world, how our dancing can comment on the world and change it. We
didn't shy away from any conversation, and we all felt so safe. She created an environment
in which to take big risks, to go to the hardest place, and to know it would be okay if you
stumbled; you would still be caught.” -Libby