APSU dance program recognized for excellence at regional conference

Junior dance major Alexandria Heide’s work, Limbic, was described as “powerful movement juxtaposed with softness and emotion” by one of the adjudicators.

(Posted March 20, 2019)

The Austin Peay State University Department of Theatre and Dance attended the American College Dance Association (ACDA) South Region conference March 9-12 at the University of Mississippi. Both works of choreography submitted for blind adjudication were selected for inclusion in the culminating gala performance.

Junior dance major Alexandria Heide’s work, Limbic, was described as “powerful movement juxtaposed with softness and emotion” by one of the adjudicators.

Freshman dance major Maya Smith performed the solo choreography, and adjudicator Sydney Skybetter described Smith as a “fierce femme velociraptor,” and that he predicts a long career in dance for Smith.

Skybetter is a dance technology pioneer, and he joined choreographer Rennie Harris and modern dance master teacher Gerri Houlihan on the panel of adjudicators at the conference.

Adjunct faculty member Kevin Loveland Jr.’s work, 30 Minutes and Counting: Back, received rave reviews from the panel of adjudicators. Hailed for its “clockwork-like precision,” and its “perpetual velocity and quiet virtuosity,” 30 Minutes and Counting: Back evoked references to the popular television series The Handmaid’s Tale for the panel of adjudicators. The student performers of this work included Kelly Barrios, Riley Marie Perkins, Maya Smith, Michaela McGarel and Shelby Flowers.

This is the fourth time that APSU has had work selected for an ACDA gala and is the first time that both the faculty and student submissions were selected in the same year.

“I could not be more proud of the students and my colleagues for their consistent hard work and dedication to the creation and performance of dance at the highest levels,” said Margaret Rennerfeldt, department chair for Theatre and Dance. “To receive such positive feedback from a panel of blind adjudicators is a feather in the hat of our dance program and speaks to the excellent education our students receive at APSU.”

Student travel to attend this conference was funded through a Faculty Senate SASI grant. Additional funding for faculty travel was supported through the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts and the Department of Theatre and Dance.

For more information about the dance program at APSU, please visit http://apsu.edu/theatre-dance/index.php.