Devon Polynone

From 2012 - 2021 she served as adjunct faculty at Mesa Community College where she has taught in the Cultural Science and Exercise Science Departments since 2012. She has taught the following courses: Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies, Introduction to Dance, Beginning and Intermediate Belly Dance, and Dance Workshop ("Propel" performance group). She also taught both Yoga and Jazz Dance classes at the college. Devon Ryan has developed curriculum that focuses on Gender Studies in the 21st century using scholarly essays, films, and technology, allowing students to move away from traditional models of “text book” teaching and learning. She has also developed a curriculum for a Dance Pedagogy course that includes a students teaching component. In June of 2012, Devon received a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Dance and a Graduate Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies from the University of Oregon. As a Graduate Teaching Fellow she has taught Jazz dance, Hip Hop, Tap, and Ballroom dance to college students and community members. In 2008 Devon Ryan graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Dance Education from Ottawa University in conjunction with Mesa Community College. In 2006 she completed an Associate of Fine Arts Degree from Scottsdale Community College, where she danced in their Modern Dance company and studied with Carley Condor (Condor Dance Co.), Tsahai Dias (Alvin Ailey), and Angela Rosenkrans (Instinct Dance Corps). During this time Devon also received a Yoga Teaching Certificate under the direction of Carlyn Sikes. Devon Ryan has taught Yoga and Dance to hundreds of children throughout the Tempe (Arizona) public schools, and Parks and Recreation programs, and will continue this teaching in Pennsylvania. She has also taught both Yoga and Dance at the Arizona State University Student Recreation Center, at the Plaza De Anaya World Dance Studio, and at The New School for the Arts and Academics. She has performed with and choreographed for several Arizona based Dance companies and troupes including: The Mesa Community College Dance Company, The Scottsdale Community College “Moving Company”, “Of The Earth”, “Afri Kai”, “Africa Tam Tam ”, “L.O.V.E.”, “Bohemian Bellies,” and “Sirens Dance Company.” Devon Ryan believes that teaching is an art. It requires dedication to the form, commitment to learning, a balance of courage and patience, and moment-to-moment creativity. Her classroom is a place where students come to work as hard as they play, where they come to think as much as they will sweat. She is dedicated to the Yoga postures and motifs, phrases, and combinations that are at the root of each movement idiom that she teaches, as much as she is dedicated to teaching the historical relevance and cultural context that lies behind each form. In her classroom improvisation, exploration, and innovation are encouraged with patience and love.