Dear Friends and Alumni,
We share the Spring 2017 issue of InForm after celebrating the graduation of a large class of outstanding BFA students and five accomplished MFA artist/teachers. Our students are off and running to summer dance festivals, internships and jobs. Fifteen of them join Visiting Assistant Professor Ann Sofie Clemmensen at the end of the month for five weeks in Denmark to perform, take classes and tour the country. Twenty-five BFA and MFA dancers return in late July to begin intensive rehearsals for our collaborative performance with BalletMet produced by the Wexner Center for the Arts in October. This features a Cunningham MinEvent created by professors Karen Eliot and Daniel Roberts, as well as Minus 16 by Ohad Naharin, performed by both Ohio State and BalletMet dancers.
Our beloved colleague Mike Bruce retired this May after 26 years serving on our faculty, as well as associate dean of the College of the Arts, interim chair, and assistant chair. A student of Harriette Ann Gray and the legendary Lucas Hoving, a member of Repertory Dance Theatre and a gifted choreographer, Mike brought his professional experience to bear in his movement practice, composition and repertory classes. Later, his research and teaching interests grew to focus on dance science, kinesiology and Pilates, creating and teaching this area of our curriculum. A 2015 President and Provost Award for Distinguished Faculty Service honored Mike's tireless dedication the college and the department. We send Mike off with a new pair of cowboy boots and a heartfelt “Happy Trails.”
In exit interviews with me, our graduating students shared that one of the biggest strengths of Ohio State Dance is our breadth of curriculum, opportunity and programming. Certainly, this InForm represents that breadth, sharing Professor Karen Eliot’s scholarship, Professor Norah Zuniga-Shaw’s Collaboration for Humane Technologies, BFA Anna Vomacka’s Senior Project and alumn Stephanie Gottlob and Yuji Oka’s residency in somatic healing practices.
Enjoy.
Susan Hadley
Chair
Department of Dance
