January & February 2016 College News

Alumni Accolades Jessica MacFarlane , a dancer, photographer and writer, recently created a dance blog that is receiving multiple accolades from established press outlets. LeAnne Smith In Theatre Awards. Christa was invited to meet and talk with National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu, ZACH artists, staff, patrons, trustees and collaborators at ZACH Theatre. The NEA is celebrating its 50th Anniversary and Zach Theatre recently received a grant award from the NEA for its upcoming production. The Gospel at Colonus at Zach in 2014 was choreographed by Christa and was also one of the shows that received funding from the NEA. Lastly, Christa collaborated with Dr. Utah Hamrick from Texas State’s School of Music for the Jazz Nutcracker and choreographed a work for The Strutters Christmas Spectacular at the Performing Arts Center. Choreographers’ Showcase, directed by LeAnne Smith , performed to sold-out audiences in November. Professor Smith also presented three scholarships: the Connie Webb Brown Scholarship was awarded to dance major Taryn Gregory and the Joan Hays Scholarship was awarded to majors Jonahira Cordero and Kolbey Gonzales . Nicole Wesley was accepted to the SCI Region III Festival to be held at Marshall University in Huntington, WV, February 25-27, 2016. She will perform an original work entitled I.T.L.O.T.H . She also hosted Texas Tech University’s April Hobson, a musical stage and jazz dance specialist. Ms. Hobson taught master classes in traditional and commercial jazz for the Texas State Dance Program. Nicole was accepted into Porto International Conference on Musical Gesture as Creative Interface for her proposal, “Artistic Research, Alternate History, and the Participatory Pedagogy of Performance: The Bassanda Project,” at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa
in Porto, Portugal for this upcoming March 17th-19th, 2016. Nicole also taught a master class in modern dance to dance instructors for the Texas Association Teachers of Dancing (TATD) Mini Convention in Austin on January 23, 2016. Student Accolades Arlin Busano (current BFA Perf/Chor major) was invited to dance in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City with the artist, Trey Songz. Kaysie Seitz Brown received the TAHPERD 2015 University Dance Educator of the Year Award.