People of VCU Dance
The current full-time faculty includes:Dr. James Frazier, (Chair), Martha Curtis, Scott Putman, Melanie Richards, Judith Steel, Christian Von Howard, Lea Marshall (Producer), as well as Music Director and Dance Center Manager Robbie Kinter, and Physical Therapist Lisa Shoaf. The department also has 14 part-time faculty members, a support staff for the management of the dance office and Grace Street Theater as well as musicians who play for classes and collaborate with choreographers.
The guest teaching roster consists of nationally recognized artists whose residencies range from a single workshop to entire semesters. Recent guest artists have included
Antares Danza Contemporánea (Hermosillo, Mexico), Edgeworks Dance Theatre, Urban Bush Women’s Jawole Zollar, Tania Isaac, Miguel Gutierrez, Monica Bill Barnes, Robert Battle, Martha Myers, Claire Porter, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Donald McKayle, Limón Dance Company, Tere O'Connor, David Dorfman, Dan Froot, Joe Goode, Victoria Marks, Gesel Mason, Bebe Miller, Richard Move, Gus Solomons Jr., Paul Taylor Dance Company, and Doug Varone.
VCU Dance’s student population reflects a high level of diversity. Of the dance major student population for the 2007/2008 academic year 83% were women, 51% were non-White, 48% were African American. Students see VCU Dance as place where they can come and be themselves.
Upon graduating, VCU Dance majors go on to make exciting and widely varied contributions to the field. In recent years VCU Dance alumni have become affiliated with professional dance companies such as
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company (New York), Lula Washington (Los Angeles), Liz Lerman and Edgeworks Dance Theater (Washington, DC), Hubbard Street II (Chicago), the African American Dance Ensemble (Durham), as well as other companies locally and across the country.
Further, VCU Dance grads are respected as creative artists – performing and presenting their work locally, nationally, and internationally – and even as administrators for such well-known organizations as the Richmond Ballet and the American Dance Festival.
VCU | Department of Dance and Choreography | contact us | webpage help | Section 508 compliant | updated: 06/08/2009