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DANCE PROGRAM
2 Brodie Gym Drive
Suite 205 Bivins Bldg
Box 90686
Durham, NC 27708-0686   

(919) 660.3354
FAX: (919) 668-7858

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    Andrea E. Woods Valdés

  • Andrea E. Woods Valdés

  • Associate Professor of the Practice of Dance
  • Dance
  • 202 Upper Ark
  • Campus Box Bivins 90686
  • Phone: (919) 660-3358
  • Fax: (919) 668-7858
  • Homepage

  • Overview

    Dancer/choreographer/video artist Andrea E. Woods is a Duke University Dance Program faculty member. She is also artistic director of SOULOWORKS/Andrea E. Woods & Dancers and a staff writer for Attitude: The Dancer's Magazine. Woods is a native of Philadelphia, where she began her dance training with Jean Williams at Germantown Dance Theater. She graduated magna cum laude from Adelphi University and has since danced with Clive Thompson, Leni Wylliams and Saeko Icinohe. Woods is a former dancer and rehearsal director of Bill T. Jones/ Arnie Zane Dance Co. (1989-1995). In 1999, she completed her MFA in dance technology at The Ohio State University and also holds an MAH from SUNY Buffalo in Caribbean Cultural Studies. She has received grants from: The Jerome Foundation, (NEFA) The National Dance Project, National Performance Network and Arts International. Andrea is an American Antiquarian Society Fellow and her work and research have taken her to, The Cannes International Danse Festival, Taiwan, Russia, Senegal, Morocco, Korea, Poland, Singapore, Belize, Cuba and throughout the US. She has done collaborative works with musicians: Randy Weston, David Pleasant, Tiyé Giraud, Madeleine Yayodele Nelson and Philip Hamilton and spoken word artist, hattie gossett. Andrea was part of the American Dance Festival Faculty 2000 - 2007. She creates live performance works as well as videodances. Her video works have been screened at BRIC (Brooklyn Information and Culture), Brooklyn Arts Exchange, BAAD, Brooklyn Museum of Art MassMoCa and the Wexner Center. She has been guest faculty and choreographer at: Medgar Evers College, Howard University, Ohio University, Rhode Island College, California State University Long Beach, North Carolina School of the Arts, Hollins University and Goucher College. She was adjunct faculty at New York University Tish School of the Arts teaching modern dance and Dance for the Camera (2002-2007). Woods calls her dances SOULOWORKS because they are works from the heart, works from the Soul. www.souloworks.com

  • Specialties

    • Technique
    • Choreography

  • Research Summary

    Afro-Cuban dance/music, women in the arts, African Diaspora history/culture, Dance for the Camera

  • Education

      • Master of Arts in Humanities,
      • Caribbean Cultural Studies,
      • University at Buffalo,
      • 2009
      • MFA,
      • Dance,
      • The Ohio State University,
      • 1999

  • Awards, Honors and Distinctions

      • North Carolina Artists Fellowship,
      • North Carolina Arts Council,
      • July, 2012
      • Collaborative Development Grant,
      • Council for the Arts, Office of the Provost, Duke University,
      • September, 2011
      • Top 5% of Undergraduate Instructors,
      • January, 2011

  • Recent Publications

      • A.E. Woods Valdés and Dr. Joan Francisco Valdés Santos.
      • (2011).
      • Saturday at the Rumba: A Photo Essay.
      • Attitude: The Dancer's Magazine
      • Bernadine Jennings (Eds.),
      • ,
      • Winter 2011
      • ,
      • 24
      • 93 Montigue St, Suite 303:
      • Dance Giant Steps.
      Publication Description

      Photos of student folkloric dance presentation conducted by National Folklore Ballet of Cuba, accompanied by Poem, "Between Water and Fire" by Joan Francisco Valdés Santos

      • A.E. Woods Valdés.
      • (Winter, 2010).
      • Nanigi on the Horizon: Garifuna Settlement Day in Dangriga Belize.
      • Attitude: The Dancer's Magazine
      • Bernadine Jennings (Eds.),
      • ,
      • 23
      • (4)
      • ,
      • 65.
      • 93 Montigue St, Suite 303:
      • Dance Giant Steps.
      • [web]
      Publication Description

      The 2008 Garifuna Settlement Day, held in Dangriga, Belize, is highlighted with a focus on a presentation at the Zion Adventist School. Woods Valdés highlights how song, music, and dance is an important aspect of Garifuna culture, and shares her experiences at the school, where she tried traditional foods and watched performances of music and dances such as the punta and the jankunu.

      • A.E. Woods Valdés.
      • (Summer, 2010).
      • The Presence of the Past: Reveling the Eloquence of Dancer Matt Turney.
      • Attitude: The Dancer's Magazine
      • Bernadine Jennings (Eds.),
      • ,
      • 24
      • (2)
      • ,
      • 61.
      • 93 Montigue St, Suite 303:
      • Dance Giant Steps.
      • [web]
      Publication Description

      A tribute is presented to dancer Matt Turney, who died on December 29, 2009, at the age of 84. Turney danced with the Martha Graham Dance Company. Valdés discusses Turney's performance in "Appalachian Spring," where Turney's height is impressive, and when she does dance center stage the other characters gaze at her with a sense of comfort and awe. Turney provided an emotional and spiritual delicacy and eloquence that added dimension, added range to what a Martha Graham dancer could be. In comparison to some of the more fiery and physically dynamic dancers, Turney's willowy lyricism was at times criticized by the press. Despite an artistic relationship fraught with tension and conflict, Turney considered Graham a genius and mentor. Turney seemed to be a graceful and generous soul but not without humor, self-determination and great passion.

      • A.E. Woods Valdés.
      • (November, 2009).
      • A Step Is a Statement: Katherine Dunham and The Power of Culture to Transform the Heart.
      • Attitude: The Dancers Magazine
      • Bernadine Jennings (Eds.),
      • ,
      • 23
      • (3)
      • ,
      • 55.
      • 93 Montigue St, Suite 303:
      • Dance Giant Steps.
      • (Brooklyn, Ny 11201)
      Publication Description

      Through the lens of arts and spirituality, this article looks at the life and achievements of legendary Choreographer/Director, Katherine Dunham. Woods includes personal anecdotes and biographical information.

      • A.E. Woods Valdés.
      • (January, 2004).
      • The Heart of Editing: Dance for the Camera Workshop with Girish Bhargava.
      • Dance For The Camera Journal
      • Deidre Towers (Eds.),
      • Dance Films Association.
      • [web]
      Publication Description

      For four days in January Emmy award winning editor, Girish Bhargava, conducted an dance editing intensive in his office on 45th Street in Manhattan. The original group of four selected artist included, Carmella Vassor-Johnson, Nel Shelby, Paul Emerson and Andrea E. Woods. In sharing his life experience and current projects Girish offered examples how a project takes shape from start to finish and how involved the editing process is.

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