The dance faculty have been busy this year with their research and creative work both on and off campus. I am dedicating this month's article to discuss some of their amazing work.
 
Professor and Graduate Director of Dance, Dr. Ali Duffy, has been busy forging international connections, publishing, and editing. She received a $60,000 grant from the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council to support a new organization she's developing with colleagues from Northern Ireland, Germany, Canada, Australia, and the UK called the International Parenting and Dance Network. We will share in the fruits of this labor when she brings this international work to campus in the fall of 2023. She not only co-edited the 2023 special issue of Research in Dance Education, “Dancing, Parenting, and Professional Challenges” and the inaugural issue of South Asian Dance Intersections but also directed three shows for Flatlands Dance Theatre in 2022. Her newest screendance work was selected for presentation at the Beirut International Film Festival. She also presented at the Dance Studies Association and National Dance Education Organization conferences. Her new book, Dancing Motherhood, will be released in the next few months and her forthcoming open access book, Meet the Dancemakers, which is co-authored by 18 of the undergraduate Dance students, is in progress.
 
Melissa Brading, our new Assistant Professor of Practice, received a Black Research and Creative Activity Award to support her taking Countertechnique Teacher Training this summer. Countertechnique, developed by Anouk van Dijk throughout her twenty-five-year career as a dancer, choreographer and teacher, is a movement system to help the dancer think about the dancing body, focusing on the process of incorporating information into action. Currently there are 44 certified Countertechnique teachers across the world, and we are thrilled for Professor Brading to have been selected for this training. Melissa will be performing a duet in Flatlands Dance Theatre's production of 60x30 with Katrina Soricelli, one of our new dance instructors who currently serves as the Director of Community Engagement for Ballet Lubbock. Professor Brading, along with Professor Genevieve Durham DeCesaro, will be accompanying 20 dance students to the American College Dance Association Central conference at the University of Central Oklahoma this week. 
 
Anthony DeNaro, aka YNOT, full-time dance Lecturer, has also had a fruitful year. In January 2023, he was honored by his image being included in a hip hop mural that recognized Philadelphia hip hop artists and trailblazers. YNOT has recently toured with the Rennie Harris Puremovement's 30th anniversary production of Rome & Jewels in Philadelphia and New York. He has also been asked to assist judging the Olympic qualifying competitions for breaking in preparation for the 2024 games in Paris. Recently, YNOT became a Live/Work Artist Resident at CASP (Charles Adams Studio Project) where he has recently showcased his design, sound, and dance work during First Friday Art Trail. You can also catch him in Ballet Lubbock's upcoming performance of CLICK. 
 
Instructor Yvonne Racz-Key received a Fulbright Scholar Award to teach ballet at the Magyar Táncművészeti Egyetem and Csillagszeműek Folk Dance ensemble in Budapest, Hungary for Jan - April 2024. This is a huge honor, and we are excited not only for her, but also for our students who will profit from her international experiences. This year, she completed and received her Functional Awareness Anatomy educator certificate. She will be presenting Ballet Lubbock's production of CLICK at Buddy Holly Hall on April 14th. The one-night performance will include an original composed score by Scott and Amy Faris with original choreography of ballet, contemporary, and hip hop from Racz-Key, Lily Balogh, and Katrina Soricelli.
 
I have stayed busy this year with creating new work for the TTU Centennial performance, Eyes on the Horizon, which was also featured in this year's DanceTech production. I recently began rehearsals for our upcoming production of Sweet Charity, which will reopen the newly redesigned Charles E. Maedgen, Jr. Theatre. This will be my first SOTD production serving as both the director and choreographer. Leading nightly rehearsals for the musical, on top of my regular teaching and administrative duties, has been a challenge but I am thrilled to have the opportunity to direct and choreograph the first show in the remodeled Maedgen. I can't wait to share the talents of this stellar cast of both theatre and dance students with you! Get your tickets before they sell out!