Faculty
Dance Department Coordinator
Billbob Brown, Associate Professor, Dance Dept. Coordinator.
bbrown@dance.umass.edu
Modern Dance Technique, Dance Composition, Dance History.
B.F.A., Arizona State University; M.A., University of New Mexico. Studied intensively with Martha Graham, Murray Louis, Alwin Nikolais, Bella Lewitsky, Luigi, Gus Giordano, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ririe-Woodbury Company, among others. Created and directed shows, Utah Shakespearean Festival; choreographed and performed in TV work/commercials for the Chicago Cubs, Molson Canadian Beer, Disney Studios, ABC-TV. Toured with Bill Evans Dance Company. Co-founder and artistic director, Desert Dance Theatre, Phoenix, AZ with whom he still performs and choreographs, now in its 26th year; director, Buen Viaje Dancers, Albuquerque, NM (ensemble for people with disabilities). Emmy award-winning video, Opening Doors, with Buen Viaje, aired on PBS stations. Taught and performed in Japan, England, Switzerland, Mexico and U.S. Artistic director/founder, Chaos Theory which has performed at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Harvard University, Roger Williams University and SUNY/Potsdam, among others.. Director, University Dancers, University Touring Ensemble (1999-2003). (Appointed 1993)
Other Dance Faculty
Paul Arslanian, Lecturer.
paularslanian@aol.com
Accompanist for Dance; Analysis of Music from a Dancer's Perspective.
B.A., University Without Walls, University of Massachusetts Amherst. Performed
throughout U.S. and Europe with jazz groups and as musical director/pianist
for Jazz Tap Ensemble and Dance Umbrella'a Fascinating Rhythms tour
featuring Savion Glover, Gregory Hines, Jimmy Slyde. Composed scores for:
New Jersey Chamber Music Society, North Carolina Shakespeare Festival
(Twelfth Night), People's Light and Theatre Co. of Philadelphia
(one nominated for a Barrymore Award for best Musical Score). Jazz compositions
recorded by Roy Hargrove, John Hicks, George Coleman, Bertha Hope, Renee Rosnes. Composed, conducts performs music for Clara's Dream: a Jazz Nutcracker, an original, evening length work that tours New England and New York area every holiday season. Former
accompanist for Dance at University of California, Berkeley; Temple University;
Five College Dance Department. (Appointed 1999)
Paul Anthony Dennis, Lecturer
Modern Dance
B.F.A., The Juilliard School, M.F.A. & Certificate in Arts Management, Purchase College, State University of New York. Former member, José Limón Dance Company; restaged seminal masterpieces of Limón and Doris Humphrey with director Carla Maxwell for 2006 New York City season and on students at various colleges. Danced with Works/Laura Glenn Dance and Jacob's Pillow Men Dancers: The Ted Shawn Legacy, performing works by Limón, Humphrey, Stephen Petronio, Ann Carlson, Daniel Nagrin, Garth Fagan, Ralph Lemon, Phyllis Lamhut and Donald McKayle. Has been in-residence abroad with Dance International Burgos, Spain and adjudicator for Certamen International de Choreograpfia, Burgos-New York. Guest artist/faculty at Mt. Holyoke College, Amherst College, Ridgefield Dance Conservatory, Trinity College; Guest Director for The White Mountains Summer Dance Festival. (Appointed 2007)
Ranjanaa Devi, Adjunct
Faculty.
Classical Indian Dance, Indian Dance/Theater; Asian Dance
and Music Program, Fine Arts Center.
B.A., M.A., Delhi University. Founder/Director, Asian Dance and Music
Program, University of Massachusetts. President/Artistic Director, Nataraj,
Inc., professional dance company. Grants from: Massachusetts Cultural
Council, New England Foundation for the Arts, Community Foundation of
Western Massachusetts, Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities. Taught
at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Williams College, daCi International
Conference (Sydney, Australia), ACDFA Festival, Smith College. Faculty,
Five College Dance Department. (Appointed 1993)
Peggy Schwartz, Professor; On Leave 2007-08
schwartz@dance.umass.edu
Composition, Dance Education, Improvisation, Yoga.
B.A., University of Rochester; M.S., SUNY/Buffalo; M.A.L.S., Wesleyan University. Founding Chair, Dance Department, Buffalo Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts. Publishes, lectures, conducts workshops and consults in dance education, curriculum design, national standards in arts education, and the work of Pearl Primus. Has presented regularly at conferences of the Congress on Research in Dance, Dance and the Child International, National Dance Association, National Association of Schools of Dance, National Dance Education Organization. Formerly, Associate Editor, Journal of Dance Education, Board member of the NDEO and National Representative, Dance and the Child International. Massachusetts Dance Educator of the Year, 1994. Presidential Citation, National Dance Association, 1995. Guest artist, Rubin Academy for Music and Dance (Israel), Scripps College, New York State Summer School of the Arts, Pomona College. Consultant to American Dance Legacy Institute on the work of Dr. Pearl Primus. Former Five College Dance Department faculty appointment at Hampshire College. (Appointed 1992)
Thomas Vacanti, Visiting Assistant Professor
Ballet.
B.F.A., Skidmore College; M.F.A, Smith College; Certificate in Costume Design, Boston University. Danced professionally with companies throughout the U. S. and Central America including Ballet Florida, Tampa Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Ballet Mississippi, Ballet Michigan, North Atlantic Ballet and National Ballet of Panama. One of ten Americans chosen by Jacob's Pillow to dance in the Soviet/American Exchange Program in which he performed contemporary and classic repertory. Former: Co-Director, The North Atlantic Ballet in Boston, staging and choreographing full-length ballets, and Artistic Director, Cape Cod Academy of Performing Arts. Started dancing at the age of nine and received early training at the Festival Ballet of New York and the Boston Ballet. Former faculty member: Amherst College, Smith College and Dean College. Current Artistic Director, Pioneer Valley Ballet in Easthampton, MA . (Appointed 2006)
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