EDUCATION
2003 Master of Fine Arts. Theatre Arts, Dance Emphasis. University of Arizona School of Dance
1995 Bachelor of Science. Social Sciences. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
CERTIFICATIONS
2012 Dunham Technique Certification. Institute for Dunham Technique Certification
2005 Secondary Teaching Certification in Dance. Provisional Endorsement K-12, Structured English Immersion. Rio Salado College, Tempe, Arizona
RESEARCH and TEACHING INTERESTS
Dance, Choreography, Critical Pedagogy, Dance Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, Critical Ethnography, Ethnomusicology, Women’s Studies, American Studies, African-American Studies, Whiteness Studies, Performance Studies
WORK EXPERIENCE
July 2010- December 2020 Founding Director of Dance, Associate Professor
College of Fine Arts & Production, Grand Canyon University
Teaching:
Jazz, ballet, modern, and tap dance, dance history, somatics, pedagogy, foundations for diverse learners, integrated arts, elementary and secondary methods
Academic Service:
- Artistic Director, Ethington Dance Ensemble, Bi-Annual Dance Concert Series and Elementary Dance Tour
- Served on University Assessment Committee
- Faculty Professional Development Advisory Committee
- Peer Classroom Observer and Discussion Facilitator for the Center for Innovation in Research and Teaching
Administration:
- Directed Bachelor of Arts Program in Dance Education, leading to certification in grades K-12 in Arizona
- Collaboratively designed B.A. Dance Education and B.A. Dance degrees with Curriculum Design and Development
- Collaborated in university program review process to evaluate dance program effectiveness across a 3-year cycle
- Contributed to accreditation efforts with the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education
- Led re-accreditation efforts at programmatic level with the Higher Learning Commission
- Applied for and gained program approval with the Arizona Department of Education to offer institutional recommendation for the Arizona K-12 Arts Education Certificate in Dance
- Developed and continuously revised programmatic assessment plan by establishing programmatic benchmarks, aligned program standards to external accreditation boards, analyzed student assessment data, implemented improvement action plans, revised curricula and measurement tools, trained adjunct instructors on assessment
- Collaborated with student leadership to produce and stage-manage the Student Spotlight Concert Series and additional concert productions
- Interviewed, hired, scheduled, and conducted training for adjunct faculty
- Hosted guest artist residencies with dance artists of national and international reputation. Hosted events including the AzDEO’s Annual College Expo and Tap 24.7
- Led student recruitment efforts for dance and coordinated auditions for the College of Fine Arts and Production
- Led department’s participation the American College Dance Festival, West Region Conference
- Collaborated with marketing department to design web and print media
August 2005- June 2010 Dance Teacher, Amphitheater Middle School, Tucson, Arizona
Teaching:
- Led beginning and advanced level-courses of classical, contemporary, and modern dance, including ballet, modern, jazz, West African, Mexican folklorico, musical theater
- Wrote curriculum aligned with national and state arts standards
- Co-produced school-wide performing arts concerts and events
- Conducted collaborative action research through district-wide instructional services including Career Ladder, Arizona Proposition 301, and Project Excell, a federal Title I grant program
Administration:
- Facilitated students’ participation in local and regional festivals, concerts, and events
- Sponsored student dance club and mentored student officers
- Hosted local and international guest artists, who taught world dance forms including Congolese (Julian Babinga), Brazilian (Roseangela Silvestre)
2005-2008 Dance Teacher, City High School, O-T-O Dance Theatre, Zuzi! Arts Lab. Tucson, Arizona
2003-2005 Dance Teacher. Tucson Unified School District, Sahauro High School, Sabino High School. Tucson, Arizona
2001-2003 Graduate Teaching Assistant, School of Dance, University of Arizona
- Led modern, jazz, tap, theatre dance, and improvisation. Assisted Dance History, Dance and World Cultures. Taught creative movement for ages 2-4
2001-2003 Dance Teacher, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Ballet Arts of Grand Haven, Muskegon High School. Ballet, jazz, hip hop. Western Michigan
1999-2001 Dance Teacher, West Michigan Academy of Arts and Academics, Spring Lake, Michigan
- Directed dance program at public charter school with elementary and middle school; taught courses in concert and folk forms, creative movement
- Collaboratively planned thematic curricular units with academic and arts teachers through Arts Integration design process, mapping and standard alignment.
- Produced concert productions featuring student choreography and choreographed two annual musicals and selections for school assemblies, open houses and community events
- Active in parent-teacher organization, site council, school safety, and scholarship committees
CONFERENCES and PRESENTATIONS
2021 Guest Artist Residency. Commissioned concert work and week of master classes. Glendale Community College, Verve Dance Company. Director Rebecca Rabideau. Glendale, Arizona.
2021 Guest Artist Residency. Week of master classes. Ballet Yuma. Director Kathleen Sinclair. Yuma, Arizona.
2019 Workshop. Sharing Our Elementary Dance Tour Model with Marlene Strang and Nicole Flinn. Annual Conference of the National Dance Education Organization. Miami, Florida
Master Classes. Moving in the Spirit of Katherine Dunham, Auditions 101. Let’s Dance Yuma! Festival. Yuma, AZ
Workshop. Dunham Jazz: #OriginalBlackGirlMagic. Jazz Special Topic Conference, National Dance Education Organization. Newport, Rhode Island
Presentation. Troubling the Waters of Universalism. Dunham Technique Conference, Institute for Dunham Technique Certification. Evansville, IN
2017 Panel Presentation. Dance At The Core: Engaging Community through an Elementary School Dance Program. Annual Conference of the National Dance Education Organization. San Antonio, Texas
2016 Workshop. Dwelling in the Soma. Guest artist residence with University of Michigan’s Residential College. Master class in Dunham Technique at the Dance Department. Ann Arbor, Michigan
2015 Workshop Intensive. Duncan and Dunham: Embodied Philosophies and Practices. Annual Conference of the National Dance Education Organization. Phoenix, Arizona
2014 Paper Presentation. Moving in Step with Katherine Dunham: A Model Curriculum. Annual Conference of the National Dance Education Organization. Miami, Florida
2012 Paper Presentation. Applications of the Dunham Technique in Jazz Dance. Annual Conference of the Humanities Education and Research Association. Salt Lake City, Utah
2011 Paper Presentation. A Metacognitive Approach to Dance Education. Annual Conference of the Humanities Education and Research Association. San Francisco, California
2010 Panel Presentation. Developing Creative Problem-Solving Skills Through Dance in Tucson Schools with Dr. Suzanne Knosp, Wendy Joy Koltnow, Julie Wise Andrews. Annual Conference of the National Dance Education Organization
SERVICE TO THE PROFESSION
2014 – Present Institute for Dunham Technique Certification (IDTC)
Pedagogy co-chair. (2014-2018), Pedagogy Chair (2018 – present)
IDTC is a non-profit organization dedicated to the legacy of dancer/choreographer/anthropologist Katherine Dunham (1909-2006), which maintains a professional standard for the teaching of Dunham Technique. I contribute to the planning of our annual conference and board retreat, collaboratively design and revise our 3-year certification curriculum (writing, teaching, peer reviewing), teach pedagogy and technique courses, research grant opportunities, and serve as a voting member of our board.
2013 – 2021 Arizona Dance Education Organization (AzDEO)
Higher Education Representative, (2011-2013, 2019-2021). Past-President, (2015-2017), President, (2013-2015).
AzDEO is the state affiliate organization of the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO), which sustains the mission to support and advance dance education centered in the arts. I have taught master classes and represented our members at national conferences and state-wide event, and initiated several programs since 2012, including the AzDEO Student Internships, AzDEO Dance Resource Library, the AzDEO College Connections Expo, the AzDEO Student Leadership Conference, and Dance At The Core, a K-8 dance initiative with Phoenix Elementary School District #1.
2011 – 2021 GCU Student Dance Education Organization (GCU-SDEO)
Advisor and Faculty Sponsor
GCU-SDEO is an official student chapter of NDEO, which is focused on the mission of expanding access to dance. This ASGCU-sponsored student club has established and maintained an Honors program through National Honor Society of Dance Arts (NHSDA). Student members volunteer over 4,000 hours per year on campus, local dance studios, churches, and non-profit arts organizations throughout metropolitan Phoenix.
GCU Student Clubs including Lindy Lopes, DREAM Club, Lopes Up To The Beat
Advisor and Faculty Sponsor (2013 – 2019)
2016 – 2020 National Dance Education Organization (NDEO)
Field Testing Proctor (2017 – 2019)
Dance Entry Level Teacher Assessment (DELTA). BA Dance Education students DELTA is a collaborative effort by NDEO and the State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education (SEADAE) to build national consensus on baseline competencies for an entry level subject knowledge certification test for dance.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
2015 Collaboratively designed and implemented Dance at the Core, K-8 dance programming initiative with the Arizona Dance Education Organization
2009-2010 Designed and implemented Arts Jump! Arts Integration Learning Project,
collaborating with teachers and students in academic courses to increase student achievement through cross-curricular programming. Tucson, Arizona
2008-2010 Taught dance and musical theatre for Project Achieve, K-8th grade after-school program with community service component; wrote grants to expand program course offerings and community infrastructure including vertical gardens, water harvesting, and skateboard parks. Tucson, Arizona
2007 – 2009 Taught after-school dance, nutrition, wellness, and personal development classes with Community Extension Programs. Tucson, Arizona
2009-2014 Participant, Arts Congress, State Capital with Arizona Citizens for the Arts
2008-2010 Participant, instigator, and collaborator in The Water Project by the Tucson Arts Brigade in collaboration with Tucson’s Earth Day Festival
2006-2008 Participant, performer in classes and events with community-based arts organizations including Mamaxé, Dambe Project, Rhythm Industry, Flam Chen, Movement Shala (now Movement Culture), Zuzi! Move It, Batucaxé, Tucson Meet Yourself
GRANTS and AWARDS
2015 Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award, Grand Canyon University
AriZoni nomination for Choreography in Non-Contracted Theatre, Oklahoma! Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein. Ethington Theatre
2013 President’s Faculty Award of Excellence, Grand Canyon University
Excellence in Education Award, Phoenix Mercury
2011 AriZoni nomination for Choreography in Non-Contracted Theatre, Pirates of Penzance. Gilbert and Sullivan. Ethington Theatre
2007 Ecole des Sables, Toubab Dialaw. (declined) scholarship to Germaine Acogny’s school of Contemporary modern dance in Dakar, Senegal
2006 Tucson Pima Arts Council Travel Grant, San Francisco/Bay Area African Dance and Drum Conference
2003 West African Research Association Research Grant. Alternate candidate for 6-month study grant in Guinea, West Africa
2001-2003 College of Fine Arts, University of Arizona. Graduate Creative Achievement Award in Dance. Medici Scholar Award. Fulbright Competition Finalist. Graduate Student & Professional Council Travel Grant. Alpha Delta Pi Excellence in Teaching Citation
CHOREOGRAPHY
2021 Glendale Community College Spring Dance Concert. April 30. Gossamer.
2020 Rooted, Ethington Theatre, December 11-13. Entire Tea.
2019 The Dance Department Goes POP! Ethington Theatre, April 12-14. Waiting To Be Free.
2018 The Tipping Point, Ethington Theatre, April 13-14. Radically Us.
Uncovered, Ethington Theatre, December 7 – 10. Two Truths and a Lie.
2017 Ballet to Broadway, Ethington Theatre, April 21-22. Cool and America from West Side Story.
West Side Story, based on a conception by Jerome Robbins. Department of Theatre, Ethington Theatre. Directed by Claude Pensis. March 24 – April 2.
The Arc Between, Ethington Theatre, December 9-10. Race to Freedom.
2016 Giving Voice, Ethington Theatre, April 15 – 16. Cloud Break. Modern. Phoenix, Arizona.
2015 Pacem in Terris, Ethington Theatre, December 11-12. Washed, Carried.
Ballet to Broadway, Ethington Theatre, April 17 – 18. Maybe This Time. Jazz, musical theatre. Kansas City. Musical Theatre.
Oklahoma! Department of Theatre, Ethington Theatre. Directed by Michael Kary.
2014 Balance/Opposition, Ethington Theatre, December 5-6. The Arms of the Milky Way.
reNEWal, Ethington Theatre, April 22 – 23. B-Sides.
2013 raDiANCE, Ethington Theatre, December 11 – 12. Living, Lasting.
Twinge, Ethington Theatre, April 26 – 27. Say You Do.
2012 Road Less Traveled, Ethington Theatre, December 12-13. Particulate Matters.
@, Ethington Theatre, April 27 – 28. Survival Is Not A Color.
2011 Legacy, Ethington Theatre, December 15 – 16. Zuspitzen.
Roots of Paradise, Ethington Theatre, April 15 – 16. Branches. A Prolonged Conversation with Fruit.
2010 Kinetic Dreams, Ethington Theatre, December 11 – 12. Stolen Moments. Contemporary modern, jazz. Healer. I’ve Done What I Could To Pick Up the Pieces.
25 Years and Still Flying. Stevie Eller Dance Theatre, June 18-19. Shaken Ultimatums. Tucson, Arizona
Pirates of Penzance, Department of Theatre, Ethington Theatre. Directed by Claude Pensis.
2007 Flying, Dance, and Films II. Stevie Eller Dance Theatre, June 15-16. Enough.
2006 Spring Sprung Dances. Ortspace Warehouse, May 6-7. AshEncounters. . Tucson, Arizona
2005 If Walls Could Speak. Ortspace Warehouse, December 2-4. Stones in My Cocoa and Ad Interim.
Arizona High School Dance Festival. Maryvale High School, March 5. Wave. Phoenix, Arizona
Crossfade. Spring Dance Concert, Sabino High School, April 28. Gotcha’ and Duke’s Juke Joint. Tucson, Arizona
PERFORMANCE
2014 – 21 Tap 24/7. Directed by Suzy Guarino. Annual celebration of National Tap Dance Day. Phoenix, Arizona
2016 Breaking Ground Dance Festival: I-Land choreographed by Susannah Keita. Tempe Center for the Arts, January 29. Tempe, Arizona
2015 Artel, Improvised, untitled solo and group performance. Curated by Carley Conder. Hotel Clarendon. May 15. Phoenix, Arizona
Tap My Sole. Ensemble performance. Directed by Jenefer Miller and Suzy Guarino. Ethington Theater, Grand Canyon University. May 24. Tempe, Arizona
2014 In the Pocket, Ensemble performance. Directed by Jenefer Miller and Suzy Guarino. Tempe Center for the Arts. May 25. Phoenix, Arizona
2012 Road Less Traveled: One, choreographed by Leanne Schmidt. Ethington Theatre, December 12-13. Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix Festival of the Arts: Aria and The Sixth Hour, choreographed by Jenny Showalter of Treeline Dance Works. Phoenix Center for the Arts, December 9. Phoenix, Arizona
2011 L’heure Bleue: Bless Us Confess Us. Dance, spoken-word solo. C-5 Warehouse Space. Arizona Sash Factory, November 18. Tucson, Arizona
2011 Ethington Dance Ensemble: Love, Drum, Talk, choreographed by Zari Le’on. I’ve Done What I Could To Pick Up the Pieces. April 16-17. Phoenix, Arizona
2010 New Articulations Dance Theatre, Directed by Kimi Eisele, Katie Rutterer. Adaptations, Zuzi Dance Theatre, April 17-18. Tucson, Arizona
2008 Many Mouths, One Stomach. Directed by Paul Weir and Nadia Hagen. Dia de los Muertos, All Souls Procession. Choreographed, performed Aerial Dance on a 200-foot crane, November 2. Tucson, Arizona
Funhouse Movement Theater, Directed by Lee Anne Hartley. Winter Forest, Spring’s Awakening, choreographed by Dr. John M. Wilson. Pima Community College Fine Arts Center, April 11-12. Tucson, Arizona
2007 Zuzi Move It! Dance Theatre. Playful Warriors, choreographed by Dr. Ojeya Cruz Banks. Zuzi Dance Theater, December 21-23. Tucson, Arizona
2005-2008 Thom Lewis Dance Theatre, Directed by Thom Lewis.
Cat’s Cradle, Stevie Eller Dance Theatre, March 7-8, 2008.
The Emporer’s New Threads, Pima Community College Fine Arts Center, Jan. 13-14, 2008. Suite Down Under, Stevie Eller Dance Theatre, October 29-30, 2007. Tucson, Arizona
2005-2010 OTO Dance Theatre, Directed by Anne Bunker.
Flying, Dance, and Films III, Stevie Eller Dance Theatre, June 13-14, 2008.
25 Years and Still Flying, Stevie Eller Dance Theatre, June 18-19, 2010.
Flying, Dance, and Films II, Stevie Eller Dance Theatre, June 15-16, 2007.
IV Festival Internacional Mujeres en la Danza in Quito, Ecuador, March 8-18, 2006. Short Stories, Stevie Eller Dance Theatre, December 1-2, 2006.
New Decade New Dances, Stevie Eller Dance Theatre, November 4-6, 2005. Flying and Films at the Fox, The Historic Fox Theatre, March 2-4, 2006. Spring Sprung Dances, Ortspace Studios, May 6-7, 2006. Tucson, Arizona
2005-2015 Vocal and musical collaboration, recording and performance with artists and groups including Spirit Familia, Corbin Dooley, Electric Feel, Sound Propagation, Key Ingredients of African Soul, Bassirima Soro. Arizona.
2003 Prolegomenon. Master of Fine Arts Concert, Directed by Susannah Kéita. Shy, choreographed by Andrew Humphrey. May 1-2. Tucson, Arizona
1998-2001 InSync Dance Theatre. Directed by Roseanne Devries and Dawn MacIlhargey-Wigert. Soloist roles: Estupenda Graça, Gospel Suite, Inner City Blues. Ensemble roles: Tribute to Bob Fosse, Locomotive Portraits, Jumping Jack Jive, Salsa, Drink of Summer. Holland, Michigan
1999 Grand Rapids Circle Theatre, Directed by Rodney Vacarro. A Little Night Music. Choreographed by William Schutte. Grand Rapids, Michigan
1996-1998 Adrenaline Dance, Directed by John Paolillo. Industrial events for New York Sports Club, DKNY Action. NY, New York.
1997 Whitney Houston, Directed by Paul Hunter. Step by Step. NY, New York.
1996 The Burn. Produced by Lauren Singer. Instructor for nationally distributed fitness video. NY, New York.
1988-1991 Grand Rapids Ballet, Directed by Charthel Arthur . Soloist roles: The Nutcracker, Coppélia, Marathon. Ensemble roles: Sleeping Beauty, Gaité Parisienne, Cinderella, Carousel. Grand Rapids, Michigan.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
2002 Arizona Dance Education Organization.
2002 National Dance Education Organization
2010 National Association of Schools of Dance
2010 Arizona Dance Coalition
2010 Arizona Citizens for the Arts
2010 Katherine Dunham Center for the Arts and Humanities
2012 Institute for Dunham Technique Certification
2014 American College Dance Association
2018 Dance and the Child International