The Duke Dance Program recently welcomed its second MFA cohort to campus. Lee Edwards, Amari Jones, and Davian “DJ” Robinson are the newest masters candidates to join the Dance Program. The Master of Fine Arts in Dance: Embodied Interdisciplinary Praxis is a two-year, full-time terminal degree in Dance dedicated to embodied knowledge and practice-led movement discourses. The program endorses dance as a politically, socially, and spiritually transformative force in society and engages students at the vanguard… read more about Welcome to the Dance MFA Cohort- Class of 2022 »
SLIPPAGE is proud to announce that the Collegium for African Diaspora Dance joins the Dance Studies Association to co-host a 3-part program series focusing on Black dance. This series will be an exploration of the politics, aesthetics, and alchemy of African diasporic dance. The series will kick off September 26 at 11 AM EST with curated highlights from the Collegium for African Diaspora Dance February 2020 conference, Fluid Black::Dance Back. CADD Executive Board… read more about SLIPPAGE sponsors CADD|DSA Collaboration on Dance »
Dear Duke and Durham communities: It gives me great pleasure and pride to begin to serve as the Director of the Duke Dance Program. I would like to thank Dr. Purnima Shah for her leadership and direction thus far as my colleagues and I continue to envision the viable and valuable futures for dance and what it encompasses within our program and beyond. I look forward to engaging with each of you, all the more so during these uncertain times. While we wish for the health and safety of all of our communities, the virtual… read more about Andrea E. Woods Valdés named Director of the Dance Program »
The Laboratory for Social Choreography at Duke University in partnership with the Centre for Social Dreaming presents SOCIAL DREAMING | NEW RELATIONS FOR A TROUBLED CIVILIZATION We are excited to announce a new series of Social Dreaming. 10 weekly Social Dreaming matrices will be devoted to envisioning new ways of "being with": social orders, structures, movements and relations that grow out of making connections between shared dreams. Sessions are open to international participation and will be conducted… read more about SOCIAL DREAMING | NEW RELATIONS FOR A TROUBLED CIVILIZATION »
This fall semester, Duke Kunshan University lecturer Ashton Merck will be communicating with her students more than usual. She plans to check in with her students early and often through WeChat messages, email, and virtual office hours. Merck hopes that by staying in contact, students will feel more connected to the course and to each other, no matter where they are in the world. “I think that especially in this stressful time, instructors have a responsibility to open up lines of communication that… read more about How Duke Faculty Prepared for the Fall Semester »
The DukeEngage Communications team interviewed Purnima Shah, Associate Professor of the Practice of Dance and Director of DukeEngage-Ahmedabad. This profile is part of an interview series that aims to share how DukeEngage programs impact community members, partners, and students. To read the article, go to: https://dukeengage.duke.edu/news/faculty-profile-purnima-shah/ Posted: 8/18/2020 read more about DukeEngage Communications team interviews Purnima Shah »
The last few months have been the most tumultuous and troubling period of our lives. Every day brings new disheartening surprises and unbelievable situations. The concerns for our health and safety, the massive disruptions due to the spread of COVID-19 and the emergent atrocities against our Black communities are deeply unsettling. This world-wide movement, though, is quite reassuring as we hear Martin Luther King’s voice re-emerging through the voices of the millions protesting in favor of Black Lives Matter and calling… read more about Purnima Shah: “Extraordinary Creativity and Commitment” »
Why do I think dance is so immensely important, not only to those whose lives are dedicated to it or to audiences who enjoy attending dance concerts, but as necessary for all humankind? Why is dance really important in the larger scheme of things (this crisis time of the world), when we are closing ourselves inside an overstimulating wall of electronic noise and images; when we are exposed so repeatedly to scenes of violence that the simple human ability to feel compassion is dulled; when we treat this planet as our own… read more about Barbara Dickinson: “Why Dance?” »
The Dance Program has been deliberate in demonstrating an awareness of how Black Lives have been, and continue to be, impacted by systemic racism, savage acts of anti-Black violence, white privilege, injustice, brutality, inequity... the list goes on. Dance is a visible form, and because the anxiety, torment, distress, relentless discrimination and theft of life experienced by Black people is often invisibilized—not seen as valid or important—it is vital that WE Show up. Make it Visible. Dance is… read more about WE AFFIRM BLACK LIFE »
Social Dreaming Matrix Spring 2020 Every Thursday afternoon from May through mid-June, people from across the world gathered online to share and discuss something we all experience—night-time dreams. Hosted by Duke’s newly formed Laboratory for Social Choreography, housed within the Kenan Institute for Ethics and partially funded by the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute, the aim of the weekly dream-sharing event, or matrix, was to explore the collective unconscious during our current global… read more about Dream a Little Dream »
Sarah Wilbur, assistant professor of the practice of dance, was teaching seminars on collaborative performance and valuing labor in the arts—just as the arts world entered a period of unforeseen challenges. Teaching as the Arts World Changes Forever It was profoundly impactful to confront the unforeseen shift to distance learning this semester, given the topic of my seminar: “Art as Work: Valuing Labor in the Arts” (Dance561S). Once we returned from our two-week spring break, via Zoom, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic… read more about Sarah Wilbur: “It is Hard to Stay Optimistic” »
Congratulations to the following student award winners from Duke University units in 2020. African & African American Studies John Hope Franklin Award for Academic Excellence: Elizabeth DuBard GrantlandKarla FC Holloway Award for University Service: Beza GebremariamMary McLeod Bethune Writing Award: Jenna ClaybornWalter C. Burford Award for Community Service: Kayla Lynn Corredera-Wells Art, Art History & Visual Studies … read more about Student Honors and Laurels for 2020 »
Through the completion of the spring semester, students attended Courtney Liu’s Dance 121 "Advanced Beginning Ballet" every Monday and Wednesday without fail. They moved from their traditional, open dance studio at the Rubenstein Arts Center into modified personal spaces: pushing the dining room table and chairs against the wall or re-arranging the sofa and coffee table to yield a few more feet of space, setting up in the basement recreation room, moving to the bedroom, or sharing space with the family dog—but they… read more about Garage Ballet: Teaching Dance When Parked at Home »
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… read more about Dance Program Awards Three Undergraduates »
The upcoming Afro-Feminist Performance Routes symposium and the Collegium for African Diasporic Dance highlight the contributions of Black dance, allowing artists, dancers, students, faculty, and the wider Durham community to share in critical inquiry and inspiration. Rujeko Dumbutshena is a dancer, choreographer and teacher of what she terms “neo traditional” Zimbabwean dance technique, Rujeko Dumbutshena teaches and performs throughout the U.S. and recently received her MFA from the University of New Mexico. The… read more about Two Events Making Duke the Center of Black Dance »
Duke dance alumna Anne Talkington discusses how her research in biology, mathematics, and her training as a dancer came together to film a dance representing her graduate thesis work for the "Dance Your Ph.D." competition. Anne Talkington is an alum of the Duke dance program, having studied with the program between 2012 and 2016 in addition to her majors in biology and mathematics. She is currently pursuing her PhD at the Department of Mathematics, UNC-CH in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, and paid a… read more about Dance Your PhD with Anne Talkington »
“A Drug’s Journey” - View the video: https://youtu.be/gI6qdPOZY5Y. Based on thesis work: “A physiologically-based pharmacokinetic model for clearance and targeting of nanomedicines” When we take medication, where does it end up in the body? Many drugs are coated with polyethylene glycol (PEG) to help extend their circulation time. However, some people produce antibodies against this coat. These antibodies clear the drugs from circulation, making them ineffective. We can add extra PEG molecules to the system as a… read more about Anne Talkington: "A Drug's Journey" - Dance Your PhD 2019/2020 »
The next Collegium for African Diaspora Dance (CADD) conference will be held at Duke University, February 21-23, 2020. Click here to go to the CADD website. ABOUT THE COLLEGIUM FOR AFRICAN DIASPORA DANCE (CADD) The Collegium for African Diaspora Dance (CADD) is an egalitarian community of scholars and artists committed to exploring, promoting, and engaging African diaspora dance as a resource and method of aesthetic identity. Through conferences, roundtables, publications and public events… read more about 2020 Collegium for African Diaspora Dance Registration Now Open »
Exhibition organized by Dance professor Thomas F. DeFrantz runs through January at Seattle's Frye Art Museum. The show traces the evolution, over 40 years, of choreographer Donald Byrd’s commitment to dance as a catalyst for social justice. Read more about the exhibition in the New York Times. read more about Can Dance Make a More Just America? Donald Byrd Is Working on It »
Now a few months into the inaugural year of the MFA in Dance: Embodied Interdisciplinary Praxis, the program has begun to build exciting momentum. An inspiring first cohort of students are combining group coursework with more individualized research, studying the intersection of a variety of disciplines. Michael Klien, Director of the MFA in Dance, shares some insight on how together the faculty and cohort are redefining the studio -- and the classroom -- to make this a one-of-a-kind MFA program. … read more about Taking Shape: The MFA in Dance at Duke »
Central to Duke’s new MFA in Dance: Embodied Interdisciplinary Praxis is the integration of intensive dance and movement research with study across disciplines. Read the DukeArts article: https://artscenter.duke.edu/news/meet-the-inaugural-cohort-of-dukes-mfa-in-dance/ read more about Meet the Inaugural Cohort of Duke’s MFA in Dance »
Prof. Thomas F DeFrantz' “Dancing Revelations: Alvin Ailey’s Embodiment of African American Culture” included in this list from Linda Murray, The New York Public Library’s curator of its dance division. READ ARTICLE. read more about 9 books about dance that will change how you see the art form »
Position:Assistant Professor of the Practice in Ballet (regular rank) Start date:July/August 1, 2020 Position description:The Duke University Program in Dance seeks an outstanding professional with expertise in traditional and contemporary approaches to ballet technique and choreography, actively engaged in a combination of movement practice, creative process, and theoretical inquiry. We seek a candidate who embraces 21st-century approaches and interdisciplinary perspectives in ballet … read more about Position Announcement for Assistant Professor of the Practice in Ballet »
The first class of the new Dance MFA: Embodied Interdisciplinary Praxis is here! L/R: Ife M. Presswood, Ayan Felix, Susan Webb, Naomi Washington Roque, Courtney Liu, Alyah Baker, Juliet Irving, Courtney Crumpler. https://danceprogram.duke.edu/people/graduate-students read more about Welcome, MFA Students! »
For the first time ever, ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival is proud to present the shortlisted artists of The ANTI Festival International Prize for Live Art during the 2019 Festival in Kuopio, Finland, where each shortlisted artist/collective performs their work. Shortlist LIVE! is a completely new and unique entity of events around the prize in which the shortlisted artists are performed live during ANTI Festival, and the winner of the prize is decided by the jury after the performances. Full info: https://www.… read more about Thomas F. DeFrantz to be one of three international judges for the newly-minted LIVE ARTS prize »
Sarah Wilbur recently returned from guest teaching graduate arts curators this summer at Wesleyan University’s Institute for Curatorial Practice and Performance (ICPP), a center for the academic study of the presentation and contextualization of contemporary performance. Her course introduced students to a variety of creative strategies that artists and curators draw on to successfully navigate the ever-changing conditions of the global cultural economy. Wilbur and co-investigators Dr. Paul Bonin… read more about News from Prof. Sarah Wilbur »
For more information please follow this link: https://careers.duke.edu/job/Durham-PROGRAM-COORD%2C-DANCE-PROGRAM-NC-27710/579811700/ read more about Employment Opportunity: Program Coordinator for the MFA in Dance »
Prof. Sarah Wilbur has been advising dance minor Connie Zhou’s distinction project, which has involved field placement and interning in Brooklyn, New York, with the Dance for Parkinson’s Disease program. Connie wrote a blog post for her DukeEngage position and you can read it here: https://dukeengage.duke.edu/out-of-sight-out-of-mind/ read more about Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Connie Zhou writes about her experience in the Dance for Parkinson's Disease program »
The former English major and Woman’s College graduate recalls her experience as a student dancer at a time when campus life looked quite different than it does now. Read the article in Duke Libraries Magazine. read more about Barbara Figge Fox (WC’61) Honors Dance Mentor, Julia Wray, with Library Gift »