Graduate Students
Ramie Becker
ramiebecker@yahoo.com
Ramie Becker is pursuing her Ph.D. in Dance History and Theory, focusing on contemporary social dance movements, subcultures, and spaces. She holds a B.A. in Dance from Kansas University. She has performed with the University of Kansas Dance Company (2000-2003), and Ragesties (2004-present).
Melissa Blanco Borelli
havanabarbie@sbcglobal.net
Melissa Blanco Borelli received her B.A. from Brown University and her M.A. from USC. Melissa is currently writing her dissertation entitled, "A Case of Hip-nosis: An Epistemology of the (Cuban) Mulata Body and Her Revolutionary Hips." Her work amalgamates critical race theory with dance theory, history, and cultural studies to make a case for embodied knowledge as an alternative to logocentrism, and to deconstruct the moniker of "tragic" from the trope of the "tragic mulata." She is also working on a performance piece based on her dissertation.
She performs Afro-Cuban dances at various cultural festivals around Los Angeles, and has been adjunct faculty in Dance History at Citrus College. She is also an instructor in Spanish, French and Italian at a Santa Monica private school. She is currently a Dissertation Year Fellowship recipient. She has also received the following grants and awards: Humanities Research Grant, Women in Coalition Research Grant, and a UC Riverside Dance Department Summer Study Fellowship.
Alison Bory
alison.bory@email.ucr.edu
Alison Bory, a dual track candidate for the M.F.A. and the Ph.D., is in her third year in the Dance Department at the University of California Riverside. She holds a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College ( South Hadley, MA) in Dance and Psychology and an M.A. in Dance Studies from the University of Surrey ( Surrey, UK). Prior to pursuing her current academic pursuits, she was making and showing work in New York while working for the PBS series, Dance In America. Her choreographic and academic research examines the personal and political implications of contemporary autobiographical performance.
Mark Broomfield
mark.broomfield@email.ucr.edu
Mark Broomfield is currently a third year PhD student in Dance History and Theory at the UC Riverside. Prior to that, he taught in the Theatre and Dance Department of Phillips Academy Andover and as an Assistant Professor at Santa Fe Community College, Gainesville, Florida, where he was Resident Choreographer. As a dancer he has performed in the companies of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, Snappy Dance Theater, and Gerri Houlihan and Dancers. He holds a BA from SUNY Geneseo and an MFA from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
His research focuses on masculinity and the identity of contemporary male dancers, combined with an analysis of critical race theory, black queer studies, and sexuality studies. Most recent choreographic pursuits include Dance of the Male Goddess and his solo length production Pink Pumps. He is the recipient of the 2006 Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship.
Jennifer Buscher
jkbuscher@gmail.com
Jennifer Buscher is pursuing her Ph.D. in Dance History and Theory at the University of California, Riverside. Her research explores how technology is embodied in dance practices and performances. She earned a B.A. in English, with a minor in Dance, from the University of Kansas (2000) and an M.A. in Performance Studies from New York University (2001).
Ting-Ting Chang
ting2chang@aol.com
Ting-Ting Chang, a contemporary choreographer, performer, and a PhD candidate in Dance History and Theory at University of California, Riverside. She has performed, choreographed and taught throughout South Africa, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, South Korea, and North America. Her training background includes Chinese dance, Beijing opera, ballet, modern and post modern techniques. Her choreography explores the aesthetics, visual images, and spiritual strengths of her Chinese ancestry and movement disciplines in a creative process that is both tradition and postmodern.
Miss Chang started dancing professionally and internationally with Taipei Folk Dance Theatre. After moving to LA, she has worked closely with the Chinese community, and has served as a committee member for the America-Chinese Dance Association (ACDA). She has worked with numerous modern/postmodern choreographers, including Victoria Marks, Donald McKayle, Jim Tsou and Cheng-Chieh Yu. She has performed and participated in the APPEX Project: Ah-Q, American Dance Festival, N.O.W. Festival, and ACDA Dance Theatre. In 2003, she created DreamDances/ Ting-Ting Chang & Dancers to collaborate with artists, and produced When East Meets West to explore cross-cultural elements.
Miss Chang has received numerous scholarships/awards, including Outstanding Choreography from the 2004 China National Dance Competition, UCR Gluck Fellowships, Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year 2002 from National Dance Association, and UCI Arts Week Award. Her research focuses on contemporary dance development in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, and explores issues of Asian Diaspora. She has presented papers in such international conferences as the 2004 CORD ( Taipei), 2005 PSi ( Providence , RI ) and 2006 CND Symposium (Paris).
Miss Chang holds an M.F.A. in Dance from UC Irvine, a B.A. in World Arts & Cultures from UCLA and an A.A. degree in Dance from National Taiwan Academy of Arts. She also holds a certificate of Labanotation from Dance Notation Bureau, New York, and a teaching certificate of Chinese dance from Beijing Dance Academy, China.
Duanzi Cheng
dchen010@student.ucr.edu
Duanzi Cheng is a first-year Ph.D. student in dance history and theory at UC Riverside. She obtained her M.A. degree in English literature at Peking University, Beijing, China. Ms. Cheng’s major dance training is in Chinese folk dances, among others. Her research interests focus on cross-cultural analysis of dance, gesture, and the body, East-West encounter, and spectatorship. Her interest areas include India, Indonesia, Japan, and particularly contemporary dance practices in China.
Wonsun Choi
lilyfive73@yahoo.com
Wonsun Choi is pursuing her Ph.D. in Dance History and Theory. She is a certified successor of Korean Traditional Dance for Seung-Mu (Buddhist Monk Dance) and Jindo-Buk-Chum (Jindo Drum Dance). She received her B.A. and M.A. in Dance at Ewha Women's University in Korea.
Nina Galin
Nina Galin is pursuing her Ph.D. in Dance History and Theory. Her current research focuses on the aesthetic, economic, and social implications of community residency as a strategy for contemporary American dance artists.
Tania Hammidi
thamm001@ucr.edu
Tania Hammidi is a 2nd year graduate student studying masculine dance, resistance politics, screened dance, and gender/sexuality; in particular, her dissertation will explore drag king performance, male impersonation, and trans choreography in the US.
Tania is the founder of the Wear Me Out: Queer Performance of Every Lives Archive, a theoretical think tank collecting and remarking upon the roles and clothing has played in GLBTIAQ identity.
Hammidi does political performance and drag at various venues in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Irvine, Davis, and Laramie , Wyoming . She has studied with Rachel Rosenthal, Split Britches, Tim Miller, and Peggy Shaw.
Camilla Kandare
camilla.kandare@home.se
Camilla Kandare is a native of Stockholm, Sweden. Trained as a dancer and with a degree in teaching dance from the University College of Dance, Stockholm, and a B.A. in Dance and Theatre Studies from Stockholm University, she specializes in reconstruction and performance of historical dance forms, particularly French seventeenth-century dance, and research about the historical and social context of movement performance. Camilla's dissertation project focuses on the Swedish Queen Christina (1626-1689) by investigating the contemporary representation of her body, asking how kingship was created and negotiated through Christina's body and its movements.
Camilla received the prestigious Dance Award from Hähnels Minnesfond in 2001, and recent fellowships include a travel grant from Gihls Fond and the Humanities Graduate Student Research Grant for research currently conducted in Stockholm and Rome.
Shakina Nayfack
shakinita@gmail.com
Shakina Nayfack holds a B.A. in Community Studies and a Graduate Certificate in Theatre Arts from University of California Santa Cruz, and is currently pursuing an M.F.A. in Dance and a Ph.D. in Dance History and Theory and at UC Riverside as a Chancellor's Distinguished Scholar.
As a performance artist, theatre director, and educator, Nayfack works to explore the social and political efficacy of post-modern ritual in process and performance. Nayfack's ethnographic approach to dance research and choreography draws upon holistic and experimental investigations of identity, stemming from a background in community activism, health education, applied anthropology, and performance studies. Nayfack has trained extensively in Butoh Mexicano with Diego Piñón, and is also the founding artistic director of Ragesties: Experiments in Performance (2001-present, www.ragesties.com).
Amita Nijhawan
amita_nijhawan@hotmail.com
Amita Nijhawan is currently working on a project that looks at changing images of female sexuality in Indian visual culture, especially as these relate to economic and ideological "liberalization" in the country in the last decade or so. She is working out/through/on how the capitalist, consumerist market in India is intruding into, creating and transforming new sexual performances.
She received her Ashtanga Yoga teaching certificate a year ago. As a recipient of the Maxwell H. Gluck Fellowship in Dance, she is creating movement workshops for preschoolers and children in elementary school, starting in 2006. She works for the Teaching Assistant Development program, and for the Graduate Student Association.
Laura Osweiler
amara@amaradances.com
Laura Osweiler is a doctoral candidate at UC Riverside's PhD program in Dance History and Theory. She is finishing her dissertation: "Dancing on the Fringe. Connections Forming An Evening of Experimental Middle Eastern Dance." In this project, she is investigating the relationship between traditional and experimental Middle Eastern dance and how choreographic processes add to discussions about gender and post-colonialism. Her interest in Middle Eastern dance began while getting her degree in Music History and Literature and a certificate in Ethnomusicology from Florida State University. Laura's pursuit deepened when at UCLA she worked towards an M.A. in Dance Ethnology.
Laura also teaches Middle Eastern dance. In her on-going studio classes, she instructs beginning to professional level students and covers a wide range of cultural, ethnic, and modern Middle Eastern dance styles. Laura has taught accredited courses on dance appreciation and Middle Eastern dance at UCLA and UCR, and workshops at a number of universities and colleges. She is currently an instructor at Cal Poly, Pomona.
In addition, Laura has performed as a soloist and in Middle Eastern Dance companies all over the United States. She has held long-term dance engagements at several Middle Eastern restaurants and nightclubs and has been highlighted in numerous IAMED's videos, BDTV, and the EEMED series. She also is the Director and Choreographer of Ya Helewa!, a Middle Eastern dance company which performs a diverse repertory of traditional and experimental improvisations and choreographies.
Laura also produces numerous events. Her focus is "An Evening of Experimental Middle Eastern Dance" concerts and videos. She has hosted a monthly showcase and co-founded "Dance Under Construction," a UC system wide dance conference in 1998. Her newest project X-MED, is a workshop series presenting tools and methods for creating experimental Middle Eastern dances.
Sue Roginski
sueroginski@hotmail.com
Sue Roginski graduated from Wesleyan University in 1987 with a B.A. in Dance and Psychology. She lived and danced in San Francisco for 17 years, working for 10 years collaboratively with the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company. Sue also performed in the works of Dandelion Dance Theater, STEAMROLLER, Stephen Pelton Dance Theater, and Navarette Y Kajiyama. She produced her own work as well as performances to benefit Project Inform, Breast Cancer Action, and Women's Cancer Resource Center. A three-time recipient of the AirSpace-residency at Jon Sims Center for the Arts, Sue also received a nomination in choreography from the Isadora Duncan Awards committee (SF), in 2001. She is currently pursuing an M.F.A. at UC Riverside in "Experimental Choreography." Sue was honored to receive a Gluck Fellowship this past year.
Young-Jae Roh
cindyroh@hotmail.com
Young-Jae Roh is pursuing her Ph.D. in Dance History and Theory. She received her B.A. in Dance from Dong-A University in Busan and her M.A. in Dance from Ewha Women's University in Seoul, Korea. Her dance training includes ballet, modern dance, and Korean dance. She has worked extensively as a ballet dancer, choreographer, lecturer, and instructor.
Adrienne Stroik
aproctor2@verizon.net
Adrienne Stroik received her B.A. in Dance from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2000. Her dissertation focuses on bodies as sites of inscription and reception at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893.
Anamaria Tamayo-Duque
atama001@student.ucr.edu
Anamaria Tamayo-Duque is pursuing her Ph.D. in Dance History and Theory. She received her B.A. in Anthropology from Universidad de Antioquia in Medellin, Colombia. She was also an assistant professor in the Arts Department and a dance teacher at Universidad de Antioquia.
Rosie Trump
readrose@hotmail.com
Rosie Trump is a first year MFA graduate student. She is currently receiving a Gluck and Graduate fellowship at UCR. Recently, she performed and co-choreographed a duet for the UCR is Dancing concert and the Dance Under Construction Conference, and performed in the MFA thesis concert I was cooler then. Rosie comes to Riverside from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she choreographed, performed, produced, and taught dance. She received a B.A. in Dance from Slippery Rock University where she graduate Summa Cum Laude in 2003. Her current research and choreographic interests include digital video technology, dance improvisation, and identity construction.
Freya Vass-Rhee
freya_travels@yahoo.com
Freya Vass-Rhee is pursuing her Ph.D. in Dance History and Theory. After dancing professionally for sixteen years in Europe and the U.S., as well as teaching for numerous ballet and contemporary dance companies and schools, choreographing, and serving as a ballet mistress and production assistant, she completed undergraduate studies in Linguistics and Cognitive Science at UCLA in 2001. She is interested in cognitive approaches to dance studies and the interface between the arts and the sciences. Her dissertation focuses on the works and working methods of William Forsythe and his ensemble.
Freya is currently working with The Forsythe Company as dramaturg. She is also an adjunct instructor for the LEAP (Liberal Education for Arts Professionals) program of St. Mary's College of California. She currently serves as graduate student representative on the Board of Directors of the Congress on Research in Dance (CORD) and on the CORD Editorial Board as Newsletter/Web Editor. She has held a Dean's Fellowship for Graduate Study (2001-2006) and has received two UCR Humanities Graduate Research Grants, as well as a Dissertation Research Grant and a Dance Faculty Research Grant.
Elizabeth Venable
elziav@gmail.com
Elizabeth Venable received her B.S. in Ecology and Environmental Science from Arizona State University in 2003. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Dance History and Theory at UC Riverside. She is interested in the globalization of Irish dance, Irish dance as a market, the commodification of Irish dance, inclusion and exclusion of different groups within Irish dancing cultures, and race, class, and sexual minorities within Irish dance. She is particularly interested in Irish dance in remote locations and developments in Irish dancing costumes.
She received a Maxwell H. Gluck Fellowship in 2005, and was a leadership scholar and convocation speaker for the College of Liberal Arts and Science at Arizona State University in 2003.
Celia Carey Weiss
celiacarey59@hotmail.com
Celia Weiss received her B.A. in Anthropology from Occidental College in 1998, and her M.A. in Dance from UCLA in 2002. He fields of study include: African Diasporic Cultural Studies, Dance Studies, Haitian Studies, and Anthropology.
She has received the following grants and awards: Gluck Foundation Fellowship, Humanities Graduate Student Research Grant (project title: “The Politics of Transfiguration: Diasporic Translations of Haitian Dance), Maxwell H. Gluck Fellowship, Dance Studies Fellowship, Women in Coalition, and University of California Institute For Research in the Arts.