“Ms. Hoak’s teaching style, both physically and verbally, is among the best I’ve ever seen.”
“Madeline is a creative, committed and energetic teacher... She approaches and presents the course material with creativity and authority... She cares about the students and really makes sure they are accomplishing the material to the best of their physical capabilities.”
Aerial Arts
At Pace, Madeline teaches a multi-apparatus course which prepares students to incorporate aerial work into their professional pursuits after graduation. She incorporates circus history and theory in her curriculums to give students well-rounded exposure to circus as a unique art form. Her Aerial Arts classes at Pace University were included in the New York Post’s “Hottest College Classes in New York City”! Madeline also choreographs for the annual spring showcase, Dance Out Loud.
American Circus History
After receiving her MA in Circus Studies, Madeline created a general education American Circus History Course. It premiered in Spring of 2023 and was attended by Freshmen to Seniors from disparate majors across the University. Students have raved, “I really enjoyed this class, it was my favorite I have taken so far at Pace. I learned so much about the Circus and how it is connected to a lot of entertainment today.”
“Madeline worked with us to secure the necessary equipment, to rig a dance studio to support the work and (predictably) to reassure the College with respect to safety concerns... The course was an immediate and unabashed success... She is enormously knowledgable, appropriately attentive to safety, and inspires her students to achieve their personal and artistic best.”
Aerial Acrobatics
In 2012, Madeline founded the Aerial Acrobatics program at Muhlenberg College, which quickly expanded into four full time classes, summer sessions, student-run evening length productions, professional workshops, and performances on and off campus. Her classes included circus history lectures that fostered interdisciplinary conversation and research.
Alumni from her collegiete courses have been accepted to the New England Center for Circus Arts and professional schools in Toronto and Quebec. They are teaching at circus camps and studios in the US, and have been cast in circus shows with Disney and various cruise lines.
and just for fun… Coaching SNL's Sasheer Zamata with Dale Radio!
