From the Chair

Welcome to the Dance Department website!  We invite you to learn more about our exciting curriculum, faculty, and the many opportunities that await students of all levels in our program.  We encourage you to explore the possibilities of the major and our vast array of general education offerings.

The dance department is committed to viewing dance within specific cultural contexts. The curriculum, faculty research and pedagogy all center on the relationship between theory and practice, embodied learning, and the potential dance making has to be a catalyst for social change.  Within that rigorous context, students encounter a diversity of approaches to making, practicing and analysising dance in an intimate learning atmosphere.  The program embraces classical forms from Ballet, Bharata Natyam, Javanese and Ghanaian, to contemporary practices that fuse tradition and experimentation into new and exciting forms.

The focus of the major is on creating original scholarship, be it choreographic or written, that challenges cultural assumptions and is informed by a critical and reflective perspective.  In addition, there are many opportunities for all Wesleyan students to participate in dance through classes, performing in student and faculty work, as well as taking part in interdisciplinary projects that engage the sciences, humanities and other arts.

This year promises to an exciting one!  We welcome new Artist in Residence Iddrisu Saaka who will teach West African dance.  He comes to us with a degree in Dance from the University of Legon in Ghana and an MFA in Choreography from UCLA World Arts and Cultures.  His interdisciplinary research encompasses traditional and contemporary Ghanaian dance, theater and music; original choreography; digital media; and social activism.  His most recent project involves addressing the HIV/AIDs crisis in Africa through grassroots art making and community organizing in Ghana and Malawi. We also welcome Visiting Assistant Professor Rachel Boggia who will teach Dance and Technology, Modern Technique and Perspectives on Dance as Culture.  Rachel, former Director of Dance at Dickenson College, brings with her a BS in Neurobiology from Cornell University and an MFA in Dance and Technology from the Ohio State University.  In addition to her exciting multi media work, Rachel continues to dance professionally in New York.  We will also welcome back Kim Root, who will teach Modern Technique in both Fall and Spring semesters.

Our Friday Artist program will also be taught by an array of outstanding artists including: Ori Flomin, formerly with the Stephen Petriono Dance Company and internationally know teacher from venues including PARTS in Belgium, Impulse Tanz in Austria, and Movement Research in NYC; Reggie Wilson, choreographer and director of the Fist and Heel dance company; Josh Hilberman Wesleyan alum and celebrated tap dancer; KJ Holmes, Contact Improvisation and Body Mind Centering practitioner and noted teacher from the EDDC in Holland, Movement Research in NYC, Earth Dance in North Hampton, as well as colleges and universities across the country.

We also have a number of exciting projects occurring this year. Associate Professor Pedro Alejandro continues his innovative project “Eye of the Storm.”  Combining environmental studies, economics, dance, history, language studies, and performance, Pedro’s research has taken him and two dance majors to the Dominican Republic to study both traditional and contemporary dance and music practices, environmental issues and architectural processes involved in straw bale house building and generating electricity through dancing feet!  They will bring the results of this project to Wesleyan this spring as a special performance in our new performance space. 

Speaking of our new performance space, this fall we will unveil our environmentally conscious venue in the Bessie Schonberg Studio.  Designed by engineer David Dignman, this new space features lighting instruments that drastically reduce energy consumption compared to traditional theatrical lighting.

Wesleyan University will also continue its groundbreaking relationship with the Center for Creative Research, including residences by artists like Liz Lehrman, Eiko Otake and Ann Carlson.  Ann’s project, Feet to the Fire: Exploring Global Climate Change from Science to Art, is an eighteen-month project that engages students and faculty in research that explores first-hand the effects of global warming through fieldwork studies in art and science, performances, and pedagogical exchanges. 

In this wonderful community of artist/scholars we are writers of books and makers of dances, passionate learners and dedicated teachers.  We are performers and leaders; advocates and innovators; nurturers, creators and investigators. We hope to count you among the many vibrant members of our dance community. 

Kai Fecce! (Come Dance! In Wolof)

Nicole Stanton

Associate Professor, Chair