HomeBoD 2018 New Members

NDEO Welcomes New Board Members in 2018

Tina Curran |Policy Board Member

Tina Curran (PhD, MFA, BFA) is the Director of the UTeach Dance Education program at the University of Texas at Austin in the Department of Theater and Dance. She oversees the professional preparation and mentorship of BFA and MFA students including those pursuing Texas dance teacher certification. She is committed to community engagement and has developed educational initiatives with Body Shift, Creative Action, Dance Ability, Forklift Danceworks, and Power for Parkinson’s. Dr. Curran also serves on the faculty of the Dance Education Laboratory - 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center in New York City where she teaches LMA and LOD Fundamentals for Dance Educators with Frederick Curry and the Language of Dance. As co-director of the Language of Dance (LOD) Center she conducts LOD certification courses devoted to developing dance literacy as in integral aspect of holistic and inclusive dance education. Her research focuses on dance literacy, living legacy and transformational pedagogy. She is currently pursuing her certification as Dynamic Embodiment practitioner with Dr. Matha Eddy. With Dr. Ann Hutchinson Guest, Curran is co-author of Your Move: The Language of Dance Approach to the Study of Movement and Dance (2nd Ed.).

Board Term: October 2018 - October 2021

Yoav Kaddar | Policy Board Member

Yoav Kaddar (PhD, MFA) is the Director of Dance at West Virginia University, where he helped establish the first Dance major. He is the founding member and president of the WV state affiliate of NDEO and the Director of the WVU Summer Dance Academy. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School and has been a member of the Jose Limon Dance Company, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Pilobolus Dance Theatre, Jacob’s Pillow’s Men Dancers. His doctoral research and interest is in leadership and education focusing on the performing arts. He has choreographed over 60 works for dance and theater and has taught nationally and abroad. He is a Fulbright Specialist Scholar. He currently serves or has served on several committees including the WVU Rhodes Scholar Selection Committee, the ACDA Board of Directors and the US National Screening Committee (NSC) for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

Board Term: October 2018 - October 2021

Mary Fitzgerald | Advisory Director of Awards

Mary Fitzgerald has been active as a performer, choreographer, and educator since 1984. She was a member of Kei Takei’s Moving Earth for nearly ten years, has danced with A Ludwig Dance Theatre, Fred Darsow Dance, and several independent choreographers throughout the US. Her choreography has received funding from the Ministry of Culture in Mexico, the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (HIDA). Prof. Fitzgerald’s research and teaching focuses on contemporary movement practices, choreography, and socially engaged arts. She has received two Distinguished Teaching Awards from HIDA, and two ASU Professor of the Year nominations. From 1998-2007, she co-directed ASU's Dance Arizona Repertory Theatre (DART), the student community dance company. DART’s program excellence was recognized with funding from Dance/USA, ASU/Motorola, Arizona Commission on the Arts, Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture and Target. The company received the President’s Award for Social Embeddedness in 2004, and for a second time in 2007 as a partner to the ASU Art Museum. In collaboration with local artists and ASU faculty, Prof. Fitzgerald continues to engage in youth projects funded by ArtSpace and the National Endowment of the Arts.

Board Term: October 2018 - October 2021

Jessica Lewis | Advisory Director of Honor Society Engagement

Jessica Lewis (MA) MFA Candidate in Choreography (Wilson College) is an NYC based dance educator, choreographer,producer and dancer. She is a full-time Dance Educator with the NYC Department of Education (DOE), and Founder and Artistic Director of Jessica Lewis Arts (501c3 non-profit). Jessica has taught dance, theater, and music for the past 9 years. Performance &Choreography: Gibney Dance, DTW, 92nd Street Y, BAX, DUMBO Dance Festival, The Duke, Hunter College, NYU, IRT, DanceWave, Cunningham, Westfest, Spoke the Hub, University Settlement, and throughout the NY area, with Andrew Jannetti & Dancers, and Jessica Lewis Arts. Honors: 2015-16 NDEO Student Representative to the Board, Chapter President NHSDA at Hunter College. Grants: LAUSD, NYSDEA, AGDEP, Bronfman Center, & NYU.

Board Term: October 2018 - October 2021

Beth Wright Fath | Advisory Director of State Affiliates

Beth Wright Fath earned her MFA in Dance from UNC-Greensboro and is a Certified Movement Analyst from the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies. She is faculty at NC State where she teaches Dance and Somatics and serves as Department Head. Prior to NC State, she was faculty and Director of Dance at Peace College. Selected performance and choreographic experience include: Movement Research, Danspace, and The Field in NYC; the American Dance Festival’s Opening Acts; the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, Rick McCullough, Christal Brown, Code f.a.d., Rhynard and Dancers, NichWalk Dance Project, 2 Near the Edge, Jackie Hand, and Urban Gypsies; and ACDA conferences, Five Chick Posse Productions and NC Dances. Her work has received support from the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, United Arts Council, the North Carolina Dance Alliance (NCDA), and the Council on the Status of Women, among others. Beth has been selected to present nationally and internationally at conferences such as: National Dance Educators Organization (NDEO) and the International Conference for Teaching Somatic-Based Dance. A former officer and Board member for NCDA, Beth currently serves an officer and founding board member of the North Carolina Dance Education Organization (NCDEO).

Board Term: October 2018 - October 2021

Nitya Seshadri Vedantam | Graduate Student Representative

Nitya Seshadri Vedantam (MFA in progress, MFA, BA) a graduate student of dance studies at SUNY Buffalo, is a performer-teacher-choreographer of the Indian Classical dance Bharatanatyam. She holds a diploma in Bharatanatyam from Kalakshetra and a MFA Dance from Hyderabad Central University. She is an empaneled artiste of the Broadcasting Ministry of India. She has conducted several performances, master classes and workshops across the globe, including University at Buffalo, SUNY Fredonia, Purdue University, Hyderabad Central University and MGI Mauritius. Her recent conference presentations include ACDA North-East Regional Conference 2018, NYSDEA Rochester 2018, DSSE Buffalo 2018, NDEO Sand Diego 2018 (upcoming). Her dance collaborations span across varied genres of dance including Sattriya, Chau, Kathak and Modern dance. Nitya’s research explores the mind-body connection through dance and the symbiotic links between Bharatanatyam and Modern dance, gender constructs as foregrounding patriarchy and the potential of dance as a site to confirm, subvert, challenge and re-conceptualize these gender norms. Nitya is also a certified Hatha Yoga instructor..

Board Term: October 2018 - October 2019

Kailey Schneider | Undergraduate Student Representative

Kailey has been dancing since the age of three and has had a passion for dance ever since. She is currently double majoring in dance education and elementary education at Bridgewater State University. She teaches at a local dance studio for children of all ages as well as teaches at an arts camp in Tanglewood called Day in the Arts for Middle schoolers. She is a member of the National Dance Education Organization at BSU and has been the event coordinator for two consecutive years. She is the current president of the BSU Dance Company. In addition to being a part of the BSU Dance Company she is also a member of the BSU Dance Team, where she has the opportunity to compete at the regional and national level. She has presented nine choreographed pieces at BSU and has been the stage manager for BSU’s Winterdance production. She hopes to continue experiencing the ways in which dance can impact her own life as well as others through continuing to learn and teach about the art of dance.