Current Students

Mary A. Chase (M.F.A./Dance '09 candidate)

Mary A. Chase is a Certified Movement Analyst (C.M.A.) and Bartenieff Fundamentals (BF) Practioner. She holds a B.F.A. in dance choreography and performance from the University of Illinois and is working toward an M.F.A. in dance at the University of Texas. Over the last decade she has focused on braiding tradition and innovation through choreography and performance. This delicate balance colors every aspect of her work which was heralded in the Kansas City Star as "eloquence personified". In 2000 Mary was awarded a Ford Foundation Grant to dance at the Center for World Music in Bali, Indonesia. In the U.S. she has performed and her choreography has been produced in 11 states. This past year her work was produced by Callous Physical Theatre, Velocity Mainspace Theater of Seattle, WA and the Dance Umbrella in Austin, TX. In December her 1998 piece The Saran Wrap Series will be featured in the French dance magazine Les saisons de la danse. Mary's Laban and BF work most readily comes to life in her role as a teacher. It infiltrates her course material and pedagogic style. For three years she taught technique, composition, improvisation, and dance sciences at Kansas State University. Leaving KSU In 2004 to pursue further performing and teaching opportunities Mary moved to the Seattle area. There she performed with Callous Physical Theatre and taught Experiential Anatomy, Contemporary Dance and Creative Movement. Currently at UT she is assisting Dance Pedagogy and teaching the undergraduate internship course for the College of Fine Arts.

Charlotte Griffin (M.F.A./Dance '09 candidate)

Charlotte Griffin, from North Carolina, has received international recognition as an emerging choreographer since graduating from The Juilliard School with the prestigious Martha Hill Award in 1997. She is currently an MFA Dance candidate at the University of Texas at Austin with a focus on film and digital media. Raven Study, Charlotte's first film, premiered at the University Co-op Presents the Cohen New Works Festival 2007.

Charlotte has been commissioned to stage her repertory and create new work for universities, festivals, and companies nationwide. Most recently, she was a guest artist at the American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive, The Bessie Schönberg Choreographers and Dancers Residency at The Yard, Barcelona Institut del Teatre, BJM_danse Montréal, and The Juilliard School. Previously, Mr. Peter Martins invited Charlotte to participate in the New York Choreographic Institute with New York City Ballet and the School of American Ballet in 2001 and 2006. At the American Dance Festival in 2005, she was honored with the Scripps/ADF Primus-Tamiris Fellowship to represent the USA for the International Choreographers Commissioning Program.

Charlotte was a guest speaker at the School of Visual Arts in New York in 2006 lecturing on musical approaches for animation. She was an Assistant Professor of Dance at Marymount Manhattan College for four years teaching dance composition, rhythmic training, improvisation, and repertory.

Julie Nathanielsz (M.F.A./Dance '09 candidate)

Julie Nathanielsz is a dancer, bodyworker, and teacher. She performed with the dance-theatre company of Margery Segal/NERVE (1998-2006), and was a founding member of the Improvisational Movement Project (2004-2006), presenting improvisation in performance in a wide range of venues in Austin. Influences deeply affecting her work include study with Joan Skinner, Julyen Hamilton and dancing the works of Deborah Hay. Julie has taught Skinner Releasing Technique classes and workshops since being certified in 2001. Working towards an MFA in Dance (2009) at the University of Texas, research interests include continued experiments in instant composition, through The Meeting Point project, learning across the life span, textiles and costume. Her choreography was most recently presented at the 2007 University Coop presents the Cohen New Works Festival.