Degree Programs
Program Alumni
MARY A. CHASE (M.F.A. 2009) is a performer, choreographer, teacher, administrator and Laban Movement Analyst. She holds a B.F.A in Dance from the University of Illinois and a CMA from the Laban Institute of Movement Studies (NYC). Prior to Austin Mary lived and worked in Seattle, Kansas City and New York City. She has performed and her work has been produced in 14 states and internationally in Scotland, Bali Indonesia, Greece, Austria, and Guatemala. While in Austin for five years (2006-2011) she enjoyed working for UT's American Ballet Theatre Intensive, Tapestry Dance Company Academy, and McCallum Fine Arts Academy. In April 2011 she moved to the Nashville, Tennessee area where she is adjunct teaching and choreographing at Austin Peay State University.
Photographer: Orlando Pabotoy
CHARLOTTE GRIFFIN (M.F.A. 2009) is a choreographer, dance filmmaker, and teacher currently on faculty at Bowdoin College. Numerous companies and universities have commissioned her choreography and she has been honored with residencies at The Yard, Springboard Danse Montreal, The American Dance Festival, and Bates Dance Festival. Her dance films, Raven Study and Barefoot Negotiations, have screened throughout the USA and beyond. As an Advisory Board Member of TenduTV, an online dance channel, Charlotte continues to expand her research and practice in choreo-cinematic form. Charlotte received her B.F.A in Dance from The Juilliard School and is originally from Durham, North Carolina.
RACHEL MURRAY (M.F.A. 2006) has focused her research and practice in the field of K-12 dance education. From 2006-2009, Ms. Murray developed a dance program at Manor High School in Manor, Texas where she was the department chair for the Fine Arts Department. From 2009 to 2011 she was the Dance Team Co-Director at Del Valle High School in Del Valle, Texas. In January 2011 she joined the dance faculty at The McCallum Fine Arts Academy in Austin, Texas. Ms. Murray recently completed Level 1 Stage 1 certification in The Language of Dance at the 92nd St. Y's Dance Education Laboratory in New York City.
JULIE NATHANIELSZ (M.F.A. 2009) has been leading classes and integrated workshops at Austin Community College, BodyShift, and independently. She continues to make new work, most recently presented by Fusebox Festival.
ROÉN SALINAS (M.F.A. 2006) is currently a doctoral candidate in the UT Performance as Public Practice program with graduate portfolios in Mexican-American studies and RGK Nonprofit Management and Philanthropic Studies. Salinas is the artistic director/choreographer of Austin-s AZTLAN Dance Company, where he integrates research with practice to create thought-provoking Tejano/Xicano inspired dance projects that draw from pre-Columbian, folk, and contemporary Latino forms. As an artist/scholar/citizen, Salinas is involved in numerous public forums, boards, and initiatives that advocate the arts. Salinas teaches Department of Theatre and Dance/Center for Mexican-American Studies undergraduate courses in Chicano Performance, Dance in Xicano Society, and Latino Dance Rhythms.
RAY SCHWARTZ (M.F.A. 2006) is the Coordinator of the Licenciatura en Danza of the University of the Americas Puebla in Cholula/Puebla, Mexico. In 2010 he received one of five teaching excellence awards, Compromiso con la Educacion, UDLAP, representing the School of Arts and Humanities. He creates bridges between international dance artists through his work with Performática: Foro Internacional de Danza Contemporánea y Artes de Movimiento. As a research associate with the Center for Body Mind Movement, he will contribute a chapter to Sacred Narratives, a forthcoming book about somatics and spirituality (Intellect Books 2012). He has been invited to be a guest lecturer at the Institute for Kinesthetic Education in Durham, North Carolina.
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