CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
27th Annual CORPS de Ballet International Inc. Conference
Choreographing Community: Innovations & Collaborations in Ballet Education
Salt Lake City, Utah
June 18-20, 2025
*All times listed in Mountain time zone*
| WEDNESDAY JUNE 18, 2025 | |
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| 8:15 AM | Welcome Melonie Murray, CORPS President |
| 8:35-8:55 | Not Flyover Country: How Midwestern Ballet Companies are Shaping the Communities They Serve Jennifer Weber, Associate Professor, Utah Tech University Kristin Marrs, Associate Professor, University of Iowa |
| 8:55-9:15 | Character Dance as a Bridge Between Ballet and a Global Dance Community Justine Sheedy-Kramer, Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Utah |
| 9:15-9:35 | What the *%@# is community? Ballet binaries and the pseudo-liminoidal in a social media world Julia Gleich, Independent Scholar Molly Faulkner, Professor, Palomar College |
| 9:35-9:55 | Q&A for Webber/Marrs, Sheedy-Kramer, Gleich/Faulkner |
| 10:10-10:55 | Ballet Across Communities: Socio-Cultural Comparisons and Institutional Practices in Higher Education (Panel) Colleen Barnes, Assistant Professor, University of Akron Ilana Goldman, Associate Professor, Florida State University Jamie Johnson, Associate Professor, Utah Valley University Christa St. John, Assistant Professor, Utah Valley University |
| 11:10-12:00 PM | GUEST ARTIST CONVERSATION with Salt Lake Ballet Cooperative Michaela Gerard, Sierra Govett, Molly Korzep, Carly Schaub, Ashley Jian Thomson Facilitated by Thea Patterson and Tyler Schnese |
| 12:00-1:00 | Lunch Break |
| 1:00-1:45 | SALT LAKE BALLET COOPERATIVE Performance See Guest Information section in program for more details. |
| 2:00-3:15 | Membership Meeting I All conference participants are invited to attend! Learn more and get involved with the organization. |
| 3:30-4:30 | SPECIAL GUEST Talk and Book Signing with Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient Brenda Dixon Gottschild |
| 6:00-8:00 | 2025 CORPS de Ballet International Awards Reception All conference participants are invited to attend a cocktail reception honoring our Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Brenda Dixon Gottschild. The event includes a light buffet and cash bar with conference registrants receiving one free drink ticket. |
| THURSDAY JUNE 19, 2025 | |
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| 8:15-8:45 AM | Beyond Muscle Memory: Fascia, Embodied Knowledge, and Cultivating Care in Ballet Communities (Workshop) Ashley Parov, Assistant Professor, Brigham Young University Brenda Critchfield, Director of Dance Medicine, Brigham Young University |
| 9:00-10:15 | BALLET TECHNIQUE CLASS with Christina Johnson All conference participants are welcome to take ballet technique class. |
| 9:00-11:00 | Utah Ballet Summer Intensive Class Observations All are welcome to observe Utah Ballet Summer Intensive ballet technique class. |
| 11:15-11:45 | Consent in Ballet: are educators prepared to hear “no”? (Workshop) Beth Twigs, Lecturer, University of Wyoming |
| 11:45-1:00 PM | Lunch Break |
| 1:00-2:15 | GUEST ARTIST CONVERSATION with Adam Sklute, Artistic Director, Ballet West Kevin Thomas, Artistic Director, Collage Dance Facilitated by Caroline Rocher Barnes and Nancy Dobbs Owen |
| 2:30-2:50 | Integrating Afrocentric Principles and Gaga Methodologies in Ballet Education Rebekah Joann Guerra, Adjunct Professor, Weber State University |
| 2:50-3:10 | Breaking Pointe: 2020 Cultural Disorientation and the Relevé of the Ballet-Activist Jodie Nunn, Lecturer, Royal Academy of Dance |
| 3:10-3:30 | The Construction of Credibility and Expertise: Black Teachers of Classical Ballet Monica Stephenson, Director of Preparatory Dance, North Carolina School of the Arts |
| 3:30-3:50 | Q&A for Parov/Critchfield, Twigs, Guerra, Nunn, Stephenson |
| 4:00-5:00 | KEEP BALLET ALIVE | Adult Ballet Opportunities Beyond the Studio with Allison DeBona and Rex Tilton, Artistic Directors, artÉmotion Facilitated by Deborah Knight and Christine McMillan |
| 5:30-6:30 | CORPS Social and Networking Hour at Little America Hotel |
| FRIDAY JUNE 20, 2025 | |
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| 8:15-8:45 AM | Dragons and Superheroes in Ballet: Visceral Imagery for 21st Century Dancers (Workshop) Madeline Jazz Harvey, Associate Professor, Colorado State University Julia Cooper, Instructor, Colorado State University |
| 9:00-10:00 | GUEST ARTIST CONVERSATION with Elizabeth Yntema, President & Founder, Dance Data Project® Facilitated by Anjali Austin |
| 10:15-11:15 | Allegro Presentations
The Non-Major Matter: Building Adult Ballet Communities Beyond the Performance Track The Creative Mother Paradox: Exploring the intersections between Motherhood and Balletic Practices Traditional steps, places, and people – Ballet as Folk Dance Subverting the Ballet Hierarchy Through Online Communities Q&A for Allegro Presentations |
| 11:30-12:00 PM | Q&A for Petite Allegro (Poster) Presentations
Gyrokinesis® in Ballet: the Art of Breathing How Does the Age Dancers Began Pointe Affect Bone Density? Collaborate or Get Cut: How Sharing Resources Can Save a Dance Program Classical Ballet Forms: A Course Redesign with Active Learning Pedagogical Innovations Vantage Pointe: An Examination of Evolving Pointe Techniques and Technologies |
| 12:00-2:00 | Lunch & Membership Meeting #2 Lunch will be provided. All conference attendees are invited to attend. |
| 2:15-2:35 | Erasing Excellence: Resituating Catherine Littlefield’s archival absence to reveal feminism in the formation of American Ballet Modernism Catherine Greyjoy, PhD Student, University of California Santa Barbara |
| 2:35-2:55 | Dancing with the Archives: Embodied Explorations of Early 20th Century Mail Order Ballet Chelsea Hilding, Lecturer, University of North Carolina Greensboro |
| 2:55-3:10 | Q&A for Greyjoy, Hilding |
| 3:20-4:20 | Choreographic Sharings
¿eso querías? / is that what you wanted? Daughter This is the Reactability of the Appetizer Rewritten Positions Convergence |
| 4:20 | Closing Remarks Melonie Murray, CORPS President |
| 5:00-6:00 | CORPS Social and Networking Hour at Little America Hotel |