Guest Artists
The department regularly supplements its curriculum with master classes and residencies by guest artists from all areas of theatre. Opportunities for exposure to a wide range of professionals in the field are essential to broadening and deepening the training and career development of our students.
September 15 – 19, 2017, Latrelle Bright
University of Memphis MFA in directing alum (2008) led a two day intensive in devised
theatre and work-shopped
with our students in the classroom.
February 2017, Quilan "Cue" Arnold, OnCue
Quilan "Cue" Arnold, founder of budding company, OnCue, spent a week with UofM dance
students and the Memphis community. His classes revolved around House Dance as a form
of culture, identity, and empowerment through hip hop.
January 2017, Alonzo King LINES Ballet
Alonzo King LINES Ballet master Arturo Fernandez taught a rigorous repertory class
that fused intense technique and performance with music.
October 2016, José Limón Dance Foundation
José Limón Dance Foundation taught community master classes while in residence in
Memphis. His historical technique was taught and explored through famous movement
phrases of his time.
October 2016, Edgar Godineaux
Edgar Godineaux, Associate Choreographer for Broadway's Memphis spent a week with
University of Memphis dance majors teaching famous choreographies from the likes of
Mariah Carey and Michael Jackson, among others. His reconstruction of "Ain't Nothin'
but a Kiss" was performed by UofM students on the Fall Dance Concert Momentum.
April 2016, Pilobolus Dance Theater
Pilobolus Dance Theater spent a week in Memphis offering over ten master classes for
their Pilobolus@Play workshops. Emily Kent and Edwin Olvera visited the department
for two classes involving creative improvisational techniques and collaborative partnering
work.
March – April 2016, CJ40 Productions
CJ40 Productions is an American contemporary dance company that celebrates humor and
the innate theatricality of everyday life. The duet company is directed by Jill Guyton
Nee and Courtney White. Two residencies were held at the University of Memphis in
October 2015, and March 2016 – offering a wide variety of master classes, performances,
and lecture/demonstrations regarding the rehearsal process of creative collaboration
through virtual internet rehearsals.
March 2016, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago is a professional contemporary dance company offering
virtuosic and diverse performances. Company members taught a community master class
involving improvisational tools for composition, and repertory work.
February 2016, Sai Somboon
Sai Somboon is a Thai artist based in New York City. His background of theatre fuses
with dance for a unique residency with the U of M Department of Theatre & Dance. Sai
taught over ten classes for the department, and spent a week creating a new work for
the Dance program's Spring 2016 show, titled Five Holidays.
January 2016, Koresh Dance Company
Koresh Dance Company members taught a technique class that included intricate floor
work and virtuosic choreography from the repertory.
January – May 2015: David Demke
Teaching several classes for both graduate and undergraduate students
September 2015, Miles Potter – Directing Intensive
October 2015, Enra
Enra is a Japanese dance troupe that fuses the art of dance with light design and
projections, creating a technical experience that 'wows' audiences. The company worked
directly with the UofM dance students, inviting the dancers on stage to interact with
the projections in real time.
October 2015, David Diamond
Career Development Workshop for Theatre Artists
March 2015, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is an historical New York dance company. Dance
members taught a community master class involving the iconic warm-ups of the Horton
Technique, and special movement phrasings of Ailey.
October 2014, Kiegwin + Company
Kiegwin + Company dance member taught choreography from the repertory. Dancers explored
improvisation tools to propel the performance of choreography.
March 20, 2014, Alvin Ailey Master Class
March 19, 2014,
Professor Peggy Schwartz, coauthor with her husband, Murray, of The Dance Claimed
Me, a biography of Pearl Primus- Lecture
February 2014, Norwegian Cruise Lines is on campus February 6th for a day of auditions.
February 2014, Jessie Wright Martin
Certified Alexander Specialist and Associate Professor of Voice, Wingate University
January – Feb 2014, Angelo Râpan
Internationally known concert pianist and musical director- guest Music Director for
Chess
January 2014, Amy Quanbeck, Wicked, The Musical
December 2013: Ashley Moniz, Sister Act, The Musical
November 2013- Ballet Hispanico Master Class
November 2013- Musical Theatre Choreographer Kevin Covert- Master Class
November 2013: Robin Sanders, hip hop and African diaspora dance artist
November 2013: Daniel Mueller (Alum – (Professional Designer/Technician) Video Technician at Les Miserables Toronto, Video Technician at Les Misérables Broadway
September-November 2013—Bruce Bui guest costume designer for Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?
September 2013 – Adam Yakin (Esteemed Israeli non-traditional theatre artist) Site-specific Workshop
September 2013- Pilobolus Master Class
October 2013: Shane Ohmer, Flashdance, The Musical
October 2013: Darius Wallace (Professional actor) Master Class
Spring 2013: Tony Horne: Actor/Director/Dancer/Choreographer (Winner 2013 Ostrander Award Best Director for Color Purple) artist in residence.
November 2012: Charlene A. Donaghy (Playwright – The Quadroon and the Dove)
November 2012: Monona Rossol – A chemist, artist, and industrial hygienist (Arts, Crafts & Theater Safety)
November 2012: Donald Byrd Master Class
Fall 2012: Adam Yakin (Esteemed Israeli non-traditional theatre artist) Residency
October 2012: Bill T. Jones Dance Company Workshop
October 2012: Richard Crowell guest scenic designer Becky Shaw
November 2011: Margaret Edson (Pulitzer Prize-winning Playwright– Wit)
October 2011-January 2012: Kathy Brookfield guest draper Phantom (previously artist in res during Cyrano in 2007)
October 2011: David Dorfman Dance Residency, Performance, and Commissioned Work
October 2010: Catherine Ladnier (Playwright – Love in a Time of War)
October 2010: Dayton Contemporary Dance Company Residency and Performance
October 2010: Michele Bottini (Artistic Director & Head of Acting Acting, Commedia dell'arte – Accademia dell'Arte in Arezzo, Italy)
March 2010 and November 2009: Emily Wexler Choreographic Residency and Commissioned Work
January 2009: Yasuhiro Urata (One of Japan's leading Noh theatre performers and six other revered Noh performers)
April 2007: Dennis Krausnick Shakespeare Residency (A founder of Shakespeare & Company – Directed As You Like It )
Spring 2007: Renee Kemper guest musical director Eligies
November 2006-David Diamond NYC guest artist career coaching for artists
Sep-Nov 2006: Douglas Gilpin-guest scenic designer Noises Off
September 2005: Elizabeth Wichmann-Walczak and Julie A. Iezzi (Asian Theatre Scholars and Artists – University of Hawaii at Manoa
February 2005: Cathleen Chalfant (Professional Actress)
February 2005: Ellen McLaughlin (Playwright, Professional Actress) Iphigenia and Other Daughters
March 2005: Alan Lightman (Novelist and Pyshicsit) Einstein's Dreams