April May 2018 College News

College of Fine Arts and Communication | 11 1 LeAnne Smith teaching a master class to Community High School 2 Alumni, Lydia Dobbins’ Agape Ballet Class 3 Christa Oliver and Merge conduct a master class at Wallace Middle School in Kyle 10 | April & May | College News DANCE Dance Studies, Per formance & Choreography, Single Teaching Certif ication, & Dual Teaching Certif ications FACULTY ACCOLADES Ana Baer was invited as a guest lecturer by the Department of Dance at Hope College, Holland, MI. Her screendance “Te Wall” (collaboration with Michelle Nance and Richard Hall ) was presented during the frst flm component of Austin Dance Festival, on April 6 at Ballet Austin. Additionally, an excerpt of her screendance “WECreate ICE” (collaboration with Heike Salzer and Richard Hall ) was presented at the University of Venezia, Italy on April 16 and 17. Kaysie Seitz Brown’s dance ensemble CIMTEYA performed her piece, “Flocking,” in Art in the Park in March. LeAnne Smith [1] and Shay Ishii produced and performed Shay Ishii Dance Company’s A Moment . A Moment was an evening of modern dance, live music and live art in the Jowers studio. Te concert featured Texas State faculty, students, and alumni as well as local artists and musicians. Te concert was funded in part by the San Marcos Arts Commission. Gordon Jones , director of Gamelan Lipi Awan, presented “Bersama” on April 24th; Bersama means, “coming together” in the Indonesian language. Michelle Nance’s and Ana Baer’s screendance “Te Wall” was presented as part of the Austin Dance Festival (internationally curated) on April 6. STUDENT ACCOLADES MFA Lighting Design Candidates Ethan Jones , Miriah Borden , and Sydney Smith were partnered with several Sam Houston State University MFA Choreography students to design lighting for the Masters of Dance performance. Te students travelled to Huntsville in April to realize their designs in the James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center Dance Teater at the SHSU campus under the tutelage of Dance Design Professor David Deveau. ALUMNI ACCOLADES Dance alumna Lydia Dobbins started a ballet program for children in the San Marcos Housing Authority program. Te children are experiencing dance for the frst time through Agape Ballet, a nonproft started by a former dance student and current therapeutic recreation senior at Texas State University. [2] Agape Ballet’s mission is to inspire each child to dream big, challenge them to try new things, and to help them grow in their abilities. DIVISION ACCOLADES Kaysie Seitz Brown collaborated with the University of Texas Elementary School in Austin. She worked with 5th grade teacher Nicholas Hall, along side STEAM teacher, Scarlett Calvin, and PE Coach, Tori Sheard, to teach 5th graders the scientifc concept of weathering and erosion through the creation of dance. Christa Oliver and Merge Dance Company taught a free master class at Wallace Middle School in Kyle. [3] #TERRABLUE Ana Baer’s screendance “TerraBlue” (collaboration with Rosely Conz and Alexis Bacon ) was selected by the dance conference Decolonizing Bodies: Engaging Performances, to be presented at the University of West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados in May. Tis piece was also invited to screen at EnCore Film Festival, Decatur, GA. on May 26. In addition, the German- American Publication Women Cinemakers selected “TerraBlue” for their biennial 2018 edition and will include an interview with the creators.