Dance Program Awards Three Undergraduates
The Dance Program at Duke University recently presented three undergraduates with awards celebrating ongoing achievements in the discipline.
“Congratulations to our awardees, dance major Cordelia Hogan and minors SarahAnne Perel and Connie Zhou, who have been most actively involved with the Program,” says Chair Purnima Shah. “They have excelled in their academic and artistic pursuits at Duke, advised prospective students, and served on the Dance Program Student Advisory Board. With their advanced level of technical virtuosity, they’ve presented their own choreographic works or participated in faculty choreographies in several mainstage dance concerts during their term at Duke. On behalf of all our dance faculty, I wish them the very best in their future endeavors.”
Clay Taliaferro Dance Award: Cordelia Hogan
Recognizing the artistic and technical growth of a faculty-nominated sophomore or junior who shows the potential to become a professional dancer, teacher, or choreographer. Created in 2006, the award is named in honor of Clay Taliaferro, Professor Emeritus of Dance at Duke University.
Dance Writing Award: Cordelia Hogan
The annual competitive award is presented to an undergraduate who has written a paper demonstrating excellence in dance writing and has proven his or her ability to translate the moving text to the written word.
Julia Wray Memorial Dance Award: SarahAnne Perel and Connie Zhou
Faculty-nominated award celebrates a senior, or seniors, who has shown outstanding leadership in the Dance Program. It was established to celebrate the memory of Julia Wray, who was a tireless leader and passionate protagonist for dance at Duke and throughout North Carolina.
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After graduation, Cordelia Hogan (B.A. Dance and Linguistics; minor Ancient Greek ’21) wants to pursue a career in communications or development for the arts. Being involved in dance for much of her life, Hogan didn’t think it would be fair to herself to stop after high school so she chose to major in Dance. She’s learned a great deal and has grown as a dancer, but believes her greatest successes have been internal. “What dance means to me has completely changed since coming to Duke. It used to be an outward show of tricks, and now it’s an exploration into myself.”
Receiving the Dance Writing Award emphasizes that she does have the skills needed to write about dance, which can be an evasive topic to put words to. And the Clay Taliaferro award has empowered her to pursue dance after graduation and not completely close the door on performing.
Hogan will always value the importance of the arts, especially dance. She considers the arts equal to all of her academic endeavors and wants to champion dance. “Visual arts and music have been studied as legitimate subjects of research and knowledge, but I believe dance is still lacking. I want to help people see the value in studying dance as a real academic pursuit.”
SarahAnne Perel (B.A. International and Comparative Studies; minors Dance and Spanish ’20) views the Julia Wray
Award as the culmination of her work in the Dance Program. “Since my first day of freshman year, I’ve been accumulating different lenses through which I can view dance, and those lenses help shape the artist I want to become.”
Prior to Duke, Perel had danced in the Los Angeles Ballet, which she continued during winter breaks of both her freshman and sophomore years. Successfully managing her professional dance career while earning a degree is what she’s most proud of—and she’s expects to rejoin the professional world of dance after graduation.
Perel was also involved in the annual Dance productions, as dancer and choreographer, and feels strongly that the arts—especially dance—are important at Duke because they provide a valuable outlet. “I’ve seen facilities around the country, and Duke has some of the finest studios and art buildings in the nation. When the American Ballet Theater studio company came to Durham, they were in awe of the Rubenstein Arts Center—the space we call home.”
“I truly believe artists at Duke bring innovation, hard work, and passion to their academic classes—and that is what makes them stand out amongst their peers.”
Connie Zhou (B.S. Biology; minors Dance and Psychology ’20) is excited to start medical school at the University of California, San Francisco in the fall—but will always continue to find ways to dance. Honored to receive the award, she sees it as “yet another example of the endless support from the program that has been a defining factor in my Duke experience and a reminder of the high expectations that my Dance mentors have of me to continue to engage in dance.”
She originally chose to minor in Dance because it provided a space for her to clear her head and explore more about herself. Throughout her time at Duke, Connie has had opportunities to share her love of dance and make it accessible to people of all ages and abilities. “Spreading awareness that dance is for EVERY body and providing ways for people to engage with it have been my greatest successes during my college career.”
With her solid science background, Connie still understands the value the arts hold. “There’s often a dichotomy between the arts and the sciences, but by putting the arts back into science, we can center humanity and meaning in everything we do—and perhaps most significantly, dance brings people joy!”
