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Department of Dance |
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 Dr. Dorothy
Gifford Madden, Founder and First Chair of the Department of Dance
The Department of Dance at the University of Maryland, College Park is an autonomous unit within the College of Arts and Humanities which offers study leading to the Bachelor of Arts degree and the Masters of Fine Arts degree. The program combines a liberal arts curriculum along with the specialized training required to understand, appreciate and perform in modern dance as an art form. In 1950, Dorothy Madden came to College Park as the only dance instructor in the Department of Health and Physical Education. In 1957 a major in dance was added, and ten years later, the program boasted sixteen dance majors and an even larger number of minors. Believing strongly that dance belonged with the other arts, Dr. Madden presented her views to the College of Arts and Sciences, and in 1967 the Department of Dance was established. The new department operated from a small office and one dance studio in Preinkert Field House. To accommodate its rapid growth, the Department of Dance extended the faculty from two full-time and three part-time instructors and one part-time accompanist to five full-time instructors and two accompanists. Ballet, tap, jazz and dances of other cultures were added to the modern curriculum, along with more improvisation, kinesiology, and more levels of modern technique and choreography. Dr. Madden resigned as chair in 1972, and Meriam Rosen was named acting chair. The department has been the home of two professional dance companies: Maryland Dance Theater (1971-88), founded by Dorothy Madden and subsequently directed by Larry Warren with Anne Warren as Associate and Rehearsal Director, and IMPROVISATIONS UNLIMITED (1978-92) founded and directed by Meriam Rosen. During the tenure of the second department chair, Mark Ryder (1973-74), lighting and technical equipment were installed and in 1975, Acting Chair Jon Boone finished converting the studio to a theater, providing performance space for dance. During Elizabeth Ince's time as chair (1976-82) the studio floors were completely replaced with sprung wooden floors. In 1982 Charles Rutherford was named acting chair, and in 1983 Alcine J. Wiltz was named chair where he remained until June 2004. Under Alcine's tenure a new MFA program was approved and in May 2000, the department moved into the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. The Center opens new doors to performance and learning experiences for the many communities within and around the University. Dynamic and spirited, the Center is firmly committed to programming that integrates learning, service and performance, actively engaging people in arts exploration and providing artists with a collaborative environment to nurture their talents and present their art. The Center's mission is reflected in its unusual building design, evocative of a community for the arts, which unites six intimate performance spaces, three performing arts academic departments, a performing arts library, rehearsal spaces and classrooms under one roof. or email: dancedept@umd.edu |
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