News

Position Announcement for Assistant Professor of the Practice in Ballet

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 »

Welcome, MFA Students!

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 »

Thomas F. DeFrantz to be one of three international judges for the newly-minted LIVE ARTS prize

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 »

News from Prof. Sarah Wilbur

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 »

Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Connie Zhou writes about her experience in the Dance for Parkinson's Disease program

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 »

Kristin Clotfelter to teach Beginning Ballet and Intermediate Ballet in the Fall

Guest Instructor, Kristin Clotfelter, is scheduled to teach Beginning Ballet and Intermediate Ballet, Fall 2019.  DANCE 120/Beginning Ballet/MW 03:05 PM-04:20 PM/Rubenstein Arts Center 224 DANCE 122/Intermediate Ballet/TuTh 10:05 AM-11:20 AM/Rubenstein Arts Center 224 Kristin Clotfelter is interested in exploring the complexities of the temporal human condition through the metaphysics of dance and performance. She co-directs Studio C Projects, a Durham based collaborative that investigates live intersections of ​… read more »

Keval Kaur Khalsa's "Mindfulness in Human Development" Research Team Present at the 2019 Bass Connections EHDx Talks

Keval Kaur Khalsa's Mindfulness in Human Development research team presented at the 2019 Bass Connections EHDx talks on April 9 in Gross Hall on Duke’s West Campus.  In a 5-minute Ted-type talk, team members Alejandra Gomez and Alizeh Sheik shared findings from this year’s work ―  a statistically significant improvement in emotional regulation for middle school students that participated in the Y.O.G.A. for Youth program at public middle schools in Chapel Hill.  Alejandra and Alizeh led the audience in a… read more »

Congratulations Dance Award Winners for 2019!

Julia Wray Memorial Dance Award: Julia Kemper.   Julia Wray Memorial Dance Award celebrates the memory of a much beloved Julia Wray who for many years was the leader and passionate protagonist for dance at Duke and in North Carolina. It is awarded to a senior who has shown outstanding leadership in our program. Clay Taliaferro Dance Award: Megan Mauro. Clay Taliaferro Dance Award, instituted in 2006 to honor this extraordinary performing artist, choreographer and teacher,… read more »

Wanted: Part-Time Publicist

Please view the official job description here: https://sjobs.brassring.com/TGnewUI/Search/Home/Home?partnerid=25017&siteid=5172#jobDetails=1358263_5172 In addition, and to ensure we know about your application, please email your resume to Christina Price, Business Manager for the Dance Program: christina.price@duke.edu. read more »

A Faculty Retreat Incorporates Body Movement into the Writing Experience

A Feb. 15 writing retreat taught scholars how to get their writing moving. The retreat, a collaboration between Duke Arts and the Duke Faculty Write program mixed traditional writing tricks with embodied movement tools. It was co-taught by Jennifer Ahern-Dodson from the Thompson Writing Program and Sarah Wilbur from the Duke Dance program. Read the full article in Duke Today: https://today.duke.edu/2019/02/need-get-past-writers-block-get-and-dance read more »

Need to Get Past That Writer's Block? Get Up and Dance

A group of Duke faculty members received a new tool last week in the fight against writer’s block: dance. A Feb. 15 writing retreat taught scholars how to get their writing moving. The retreat, a collaboration between Duke Arts and the Duke Faculty Write program mixed traditional writing tricks with embodied movement tools. It was co-taught by Jennifer Ahern-Dodson from the Thompson Writing Program and Sarah Wilbur from the Duke Dance program. The retreat approached the act of… read more »

Prof. Thomas F. DeFrantz to present lecture at Ohio State University

Dr. Thomas DeFrantz will deliver the William Hammond Lecture on the American Tradition entitled, "American Traditions in Dance and Its Study."  Tuesday, February 5, 2019 - 5:00pm Schulz Lecture Hall, Sullivant Hall 220, 1813 N. High Street, Columbus OH, 43210 More information: https://dance.osu.edu/events/william-hammond-lecture-american-tradition read more »

News from Prof. Thomas F. DeFrantz

Professor Thomas F. DeFrantz will be performing twice at New York Live Arts in the next two months.  On Feb 14-17 he will dance in Kathy Rambler’s work RAMBLER Worlds Worlds Apart, a performance with live music by experimental minimalist composer Julius Eastman. https://www.broadwayworld.com/off-off-broadway/article/Kathy-Westwaters-RAMBLER-WORLDS-WORLDS-A-PART-Makes-World-Premiere-at-New-York-Live-Arts-20190116.  On March 14-17 DeFrantz will appear in Netta Yerushalmy’s PARAMODERNITIES performing his… read more »

Spring Writing Retreat

  The Duke Faculty Write Program and Duke Arts invite you to a one-day writing retreat, Friday, February 15, 2019 - 9:30am to 5:00pm, to keep (or get) your writing moving this semester. The retreat offers time to write independently in a comfortable, relaxed space. Throughout the day, the retreat facilitators will offer short tips to help you boost productivity, satisfaction, and enjoyment in your writing. The retreat is offered at no cost to… read more »

Get to Know the Duke MFA in Dance Faculty: Sarah Wilbur

We had the wonderful opportunity to sit with Sarah Wilbur, Assistant Professor of the Practice of Dance, and gain some additional perspective on the new MFA in Dance: Embodied Interdisciplinary Praxis. Sarah discusses with us the uniqueness of the program, coursework that she is developing, and advice for prospective applicants. Read more to hear some of her valuable guidance for applicants looking to craft their research proposals to be a part of the first graduate class, starting Fall of 2019. Can you… read more »

Prof. Sarah Wilbur's Essay Included in New Volume

Professor Sarah Wilbur's essay “Endangered Strangers: Tracking Competition in US Federal Arts Funding” was published last week in the Oxford Handbook of Dance and Competition (NY: Oxford U Press, 2018), edited by Sherril Dodds.    The Oxford Handbook of Dance and Competition asks how competition affects the presentation and experience of dance and, in response, how dancing bodies negotiate, critique, and resist the aesthetic and social structures of the competition paradigm.   https://… read more »

What to Expect from Duke’s New MFA in Dance: Interview with Michael Klien

With the announcement of Duke University’s new MFA in Dance, there looms a sense of excitement and possibility for what the inaugural class (Fall of 2019) will bring to the growth and development of the program. We took a moment to sit with the director of the MFA in Dance, Michael Klien, to gain some deeper insight into what to expect from this new offering and who should apply. At the heart of Duke's MFA in Dance is the theme of Embodied Interdisciplinary Praxis. What does that mean, and how is it unique… read more »

News from Prof. Thomas F. DeFrantz

Thomas F. DeFrantz enjoyed a busy summer and first part of the fall!  DeFrantz led a research group at ImPulsTanz called “afroFUTUREqu##r” that encouraged the group to think about dancemaking in relationship to shifting social identities embedded within an afrofuturistic making.  DeFrantz conducted research in a group concerned with Improvisation as a social practice in Denmark and Sweden, and taught in a new “mobile architecture” MFA program at the Centre National de la Danse in Montpellier, France.  Also,… read more »

ANNOUNCEMENT: New MFA in Dance: Embodied Interdisciplinary Praxis (starting Fall 2019) at Duke University

equipping the imagination for social transformation   The Duke University Dance Program announces a new MFA in Dance program scheduled to start in Fall 2019, applications for which will be accepted onwards of June 2018 (our new, comprehensive website should be active by May 2018). Please contact our staff, Jennifer Prather,  jprather@duke.edu  if you wish to join our MFA mailing list. For specific enquiries regarding the MFA, please contact the director of the MFA program, Professor Michael Kliën… read more »

Duke Announces Three-Year Partnership with American Ballet Theater

Duke University and American Ballet Theatre have announced a three-year partnership to begin in January 2019.   The wide-ranging, immersive partnership marks a significant new investment in the arts at Duke, said Duke University President Vince Price and ABT Executive Director Kara Medoff Barnett, who announced the partnership at a recent gala opening of Duke’s Rubenstein Arts Center. It was initiated and will be managed by Duke Performances, the university’s presenting organization for the arts.… read more »

Prof. Thomas F. DeFrantz featured in Netta Yerushalmy work, "Paramodernities", at Jacobs Pillow

"Paramodernities" at Jacob's Pillow deconstructs dance, by Tresca Weinstein, timesunion.com. Read about the choreographer and the performance, including Prof. DeFrantz's contribution to the work: https://www.timesunion.com/entertainment/article/Paramodernities-at-Jacob-s-Pillow-deconstructs-13124060.php photo: Paula Lobo read more »

SLIPPAGE/Moogfest 2018 Performance:  “…these borders that keep me down…”

 “…these borders that keep me down…” von der Heyden Theater   Rubenstein Arts Center, 2020 Campus Drive Friday and Saturday, May 18 and 19, at 3 p.m.   What are the resonances from redlining and political gerrymandering? How are neighborhoods designated to separate people? When did the Federal Government actually engage in unfair lending practices in order to keep African Americans out of quality neighborhoods and away from the best resources available to other Americans?   SLIPPAGE presents an… read more »