Jessica Zeller (she/her)
@jessicazeller.bsky.social
Professor of Dance, PhD, MFA
Posts on: pedagogies, ballet, higher ed, other sundries. Views expressed are my own.
Books: Humanizing Ballet Pedagogies (Routledge); Shapes of American Ballet (Oxford)
https://linktr.ee/jessicazeller
Posts on: pedagogies, ballet, higher ed, other sundries. Views expressed are my own.
Books: Humanizing Ballet Pedagogies (Routledge); Shapes of American Ballet (Oxford)
https://linktr.ee/jessicazeller
Pinned
Humanizing Ballet Pedagogies — Jessica Zeller
It’s Publication Day! 🎉 I’m celebrating with a book overview and some acknowledgments.
www.jessicazeller.net
It’s Publication Day! 🎉
To celebrate the official release of Humanizing Ballet Pedagogies: Philosophies, Perspectives, and Praxis for Teaching Ballet, and to thank the many wise and wonderful people whose work and support made this book possible, I’ve put some excerpts on my website. +
To celebrate the official release of Humanizing Ballet Pedagogies: Philosophies, Perspectives, and Praxis for Teaching Ballet, and to thank the many wise and wonderful people whose work and support made this book possible, I’ve put some excerpts on my website. +
Reposted by Jessica Zeller (she/her)
There is no balance required, you just trust people.
Because disabled people are met routinely with mockery, suspicion, neglect, discrimination and outright hate, we do not feed the ableism machine with more suspicion. If a few people get away with ‘cheating the system’ that’s just how things are.
Because disabled people are met routinely with mockery, suspicion, neglect, discrimination and outright hate, we do not feed the ableism machine with more suspicion. If a few people get away with ‘cheating the system’ that’s just how things are.
Balancing "no person with a disability should be denied accommodations" with "it's important to discourage non-disabled people from pretending to be disabled to take advantage of these accommodations" is really difficult and I don't have a great answer for what anyone should do about it.
December 3, 2025 at 12:03 PM
There is no balance required, you just trust people.
Because disabled people are met routinely with mockery, suspicion, neglect, discrimination and outright hate, we do not feed the ableism machine with more suspicion. If a few people get away with ‘cheating the system’ that’s just how things are.
Because disabled people are met routinely with mockery, suspicion, neglect, discrimination and outright hate, we do not feed the ableism machine with more suspicion. If a few people get away with ‘cheating the system’ that’s just how things are.
Reposted by Jessica Zeller (she/her)
One of my colleagues once pointed out that we aren’t necessarily the right people to invent ways to motivate students, because we’re the nerds who stayed and what motivates us does not work for everyone. I think about that a LOT
November 23, 2025 at 5:00 PM
One of my colleagues once pointed out that we aren’t necessarily the right people to invent ways to motivate students, because we’re the nerds who stayed and what motivates us does not work for everyone. I think about that a LOT
I can give students a million reasons why using #AI is a problem, but if I don’t also explain why the human alternative is worth choosing and make it possible (ie give it time to develop) inside my course design, those reasons might not be enough given the challenges they face.
There are so many reasons *not to use LLMs—cultural, social, economic, environmental, etc.
Mostly, though, I don’t use them because I *like* using my own faculties. I like the rush of problem solving and revision—the feelings of learning and having learned.
I wish I knew how to teach that.
Mostly, though, I don’t use them because I *like* using my own faculties. I like the rush of problem solving and revision—the feelings of learning and having learned.
I wish I knew how to teach that.
November 23, 2025 at 4:37 PM
I can give students a million reasons why using #AI is a problem, but if I don’t also explain why the human alternative is worth choosing and make it possible (ie give it time to develop) inside my course design, those reasons might not be enough given the challenges they face.
There are so many reasons *not to use LLMs—cultural, social, economic, environmental, etc.
Mostly, though, I don’t use them because I *like* using my own faculties. I like the rush of problem solving and revision—the feelings of learning and having learned.
I wish I knew how to teach that.
Mostly, though, I don’t use them because I *like* using my own faculties. I like the rush of problem solving and revision—the feelings of learning and having learned.
I wish I knew how to teach that.
November 23, 2025 at 3:40 PM
There are so many reasons *not to use LLMs—cultural, social, economic, environmental, etc.
Mostly, though, I don’t use them because I *like* using my own faculties. I like the rush of problem solving and revision—the feelings of learning and having learned.
I wish I knew how to teach that.
Mostly, though, I don’t use them because I *like* using my own faculties. I like the rush of problem solving and revision—the feelings of learning and having learned.
I wish I knew how to teach that.
I kind of can't believe I actually saw this happen with my own eyes. I've heard so many stories, but to be in the room with it and have it expressed to my face was truly remarkable.
That feeling when a senior male academic starts whining about how 90% of predators in the university’s compliance training videos are depicted as male:
Smile, sweetie. You look so pretty when you smile.
Smile, sweetie. You look so pretty when you smile.
November 8, 2025 at 4:25 PM
I kind of can't believe I actually saw this happen with my own eyes. I've heard so many stories, but to be in the room with it and have it expressed to my face was truly remarkable.
That feeling when a senior male academic starts whining about how 90% of predators in the university’s compliance training videos are depicted as male:
Smile, sweetie. You look so pretty when you smile.
Smile, sweetie. You look so pretty when you smile.
November 7, 2025 at 12:26 PM
That feeling when a senior male academic starts whining about how 90% of predators in the university’s compliance training videos are depicted as male:
Smile, sweetie. You look so pretty when you smile.
Smile, sweetie. You look so pretty when you smile.
cc: educators
October 26, 2025 at 1:16 PM
cc: educators
Reposted by Jessica Zeller (she/her)
"The right to culture is fundamental, and its revocation has grave consequences for the texture of daily life." You should definitely read this, by @annakornbluh.bsky.social and @isanchezprado.bsky.social
How to Protect Your Right to Culture
The United States government’s coordinated repeal of the right to culture has grave consequences for the texture of our daily lives. But there are ways to fight back.
hyperallergic.com
October 15, 2025 at 2:01 PM
"The right to culture is fundamental, and its revocation has grave consequences for the texture of daily life." You should definitely read this, by @annakornbluh.bsky.social and @isanchezprado.bsky.social
Reposted by Jessica Zeller (she/her)
Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.
Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry
Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry
Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.
buff.ly
October 8, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.
We are at that golden moment in the semester when "thank you for your patience with my delayed reply" prefaces all of my emails.
October 5, 2025 at 6:31 PM
We are at that golden moment in the semester when "thank you for your patience with my delayed reply" prefaces all of my emails.
Reposted by Jessica Zeller (she/her)
It turns out that being a kind human being is a practice.
October 2, 2025 at 11:00 AM
It turns out that being a kind human being is a practice.
Reposted by Jessica Zeller (she/her)
My employer New York Public Radio just announced that it is offering @onthemedia.bsky.social, @radiolab.bsky.social, and other programs to at-risk public radio stations for free! More info: current.org/2025/09/wnyc...
September 24, 2025 at 6:18 PM
My employer New York Public Radio just announced that it is offering @onthemedia.bsky.social, @radiolab.bsky.social, and other programs to at-risk public radio stations for free! More info: current.org/2025/09/wnyc...
Arts education matters.
September 14, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Arts education matters.
Reposted by Jessica Zeller (she/her)
An astonishing book review of my Humanizing Ballet Pedagogies includes the following sentence, and I am gobsmacked: "Thus, rather than adhering to methods that might be more institutionally acceptable or familiar to readers, Zeller proposes a ballet pedagogy in which... +
August 24, 2025 at 4:34 PM
An astonishing book review of my Humanizing Ballet Pedagogies includes the following sentence, and I am gobsmacked: "Thus, rather than adhering to methods that might be more institutionally acceptable or familiar to readers, Zeller proposes a ballet pedagogy in which... +
Reposted by Jessica Zeller (she/her)
this iconic advertising copywriter named Kathy Hepinstall Parks died over the weekend and I wanted to share something from her website I thought Bluesky would like
August 22, 2025 at 2:20 PM
this iconic advertising copywriter named Kathy Hepinstall Parks died over the weekend and I wanted to share something from her website I thought Bluesky would like
Reposted by Jessica Zeller (she/her)
Now updated with more links (thanks to everyone who suggested new material!) and with the years that each article was published. catherinedenial.org/blog/uncateg...
Against Generative AI – Cate Denial
catherinedenial.org
August 15, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Now updated with more links (thanks to everyone who suggested new material!) and with the years that each article was published. catherinedenial.org/blog/uncateg...
Reposted by Jessica Zeller (she/her)
Opinion | A.I. Is Fueling a ‘Poverty of Imagination.’ Here’s How We Can Fix It.
www.nytimes.com
August 12, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Reposted by Jessica Zeller (she/her)
I am enormously grateful for the clear writing and ethical perspective offered by my friend Mays Imad, in this vital piece for @insidehighered.com today: www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
Higher Ed Is Morally Injured (opinion)
As higher ed confronts a crisis of values, we must name, witness and transcend moral injury, Mays Imad writes.
www.insidehighered.com
August 5, 2025 at 2:27 PM
I am enormously grateful for the clear writing and ethical perspective offered by my friend Mays Imad, in this vital piece for @insidehighered.com today: www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
Reposted by Jessica Zeller (she/her)
"With [some AI bullshit] you can go from a rough idea to a structured draft — in just 3 minutes"
We're so cooked.
We're so cooked.
August 5, 2025 at 1:05 AM
"With [some AI bullshit] you can go from a rough idea to a structured draft — in just 3 minutes"
We're so cooked.
We're so cooked.
Reposted by Jessica Zeller (she/her)
"Funding for this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by annual financial support from viewers like you" <---I bet you hear the exact cadence of your vintage
August 2, 2025 at 2:22 AM
"Funding for this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by annual financial support from viewers like you" <---I bet you hear the exact cadence of your vintage
Reposted by Jessica Zeller (she/her)
They're just saying it out loud that their project isn't viable without theft at an epic scale
NEW: “You can't be expected to have a successful AI program when every single article, book or anything else that you've read or studied, you're supposed to pay for,” Trump said. “We appreciate that, but just can't do it— because it's not doable.”
www.wired.com/story/presid...
www.wired.com/story/presid...
Trump Says He's 'Getting Rid of Woke' and Dismisses Copyright Concerns in AI Policy Speech
The remarks, which came during a keynote speech at a summit hosted by the All-In Podcast, follow President Donald Trump's newly released AI Action Plan.
www.wired.com
July 23, 2025 at 10:48 PM
They're just saying it out loud that their project isn't viable without theft at an epic scale
“When students realize their own humanity is at stake in their education, they are deeply invested in it.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/o...
Opinion | Students Want the Liberal Arts. Administrators, Not So Much.
www.nytimes.com
July 17, 2025 at 3:42 PM
“When students realize their own humanity is at stake in their education, they are deeply invested in it.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/o...