Last modified: Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Fran Snygg arts award recipients announced
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 9, 2010
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University's Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs has announced the winners of the Fran Snygg Endowment Fund and the Fran Snygg Grant for Artistic Collaboration. This year's recipients are Joseph Galvin from the Jacobs School of Music, and Gwendolyn Hamm, Elizabeth Shea and Selene Carter from the Department of Kinesiology in the Indiana University School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER).
The two awards were established in 1988 and 2002, respectively, in memory of Fran Snygg, professor of modern dance at the School of HPER and associate dean of the faculties. Snygg also founded IU's ArtsWeek, which she guided through its first 10 years. ArtsWeek 2010 marks the celebration's 26th year.
Fran Snygg Grant for Artistic Collaboration
Selene Carter's proposal supports the project "Dancescience Lab" for ArtsWeek 2010. The Jordan Hall atrium is the backdrop for this new contemporary dance performance designed to relate to the architecture of the atrium and the content of cases displaying life forms in varying stages of development. The choreography will be generated from the movement patterns shared by all living organisms and reflective of their interconnectedness. Visual and sound designs will accentuate the space and clothing of the dancers in relation to the choreography. Students from the IU Contemporary Dance Program will participate in the performance, Feb. 18 (Thursday), at 12:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., in the Jordan Hall atrium. Read more at https://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/13335.html.
Carter, who also is a winner of the Fran Snygg Endowment Fund award, is a visiting guest lecturer in the Department of Kinesiology, where she teaches dance history, theory and improvisation for the Contemporary Dance Program. A recipient of the Ruth Page Award, Chicago's highest honor in dance, she has created site-specific dances for Artsweek, and performed at the International Symposium for Improvised Music in Denver. Carter has a master's degree in fine arts in dance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Fran Snygg Endowment Fund
Elizabeth Shea
Elizabeth Shea's proposal is in support of a premiere performance of "The Mo(u)rning," a work that pays homage to the choreographic inventions of Martha Graham, and also the re-staging of "These Hands," which examines the complex layers of the lives of women. Both pieces explore the collaborative potential in modern dance and the visual and musical arts. They were performed on Jan. 15-16 at the annual guest artist/faculty concert by the IU Dance Theater. See more at https://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/12959.html. For video selections involving the performances, see https://www.indiana.edu/~kines/undergraduate/dance.shtml.
Shea is an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology and IU contemporary dance program coordinator. She formerly held faculty positions at Penn State University, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee Community College and Apalachee Tapestry Magnet School for the Arts, and served as guest choreographer and instructor at Florida State University. Her creative activity is in the area of modern dance choreography. She has received several grants and commissions to explore work in dance and technology. She writes and presents in the area of skill acquisition, especially regarding teaching and learning applications to modern dance.
Gwen Hamm and Joseph Galvin's proposal is in support of the staging of "Interplay: The Relationship between Dance and Rhythm," exploring the relationship among the elements of rhythm, pattern and texture in dance and music by starting with the most basic of rhythms, the heart beat. The approach is based on two concepts in a 1967 dissertation, The Interrelatedness of Dance with Music and Art Through A Study of Form As a Unifying Concept, by Jacqueline Clifford, former IU coordinator of modern dance. The piece was performed on Jan. 15-16 at The Legacy of Graham, the annual guest artist/faculty concert by the IU Dance Theater. Read more at https://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/12959.html. To view video selections involving the performance, see https://www.indiana.edu/~kines/undergraduate/dance.shtml.
Hamm is an associate professor and director of undergraduate studies for the Department of Kinesiology. She has presented at state, regional and national conferences, including the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, the National Dance Education Organization, the American College Dance Festival (Mid-Atlantic Region) and the Bill Evans Summer Institute of Dance. Hamm has been the recipient of grants and awards, including the IU Bloomington New Frontiers Visiting Visionary Grant, the HPER Cross-Disciplinary Research Program Grant, and most recently, the NEA American Masterpieces Dance-College Component in collaboration with Selene Carter.
Joseph Galvin
Galvin received a bachelor's degree in performance of percussion instruments from diverse cultures from IU and has accompanied several prominent guest dance companies such as Urban Bush Women, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Bill Evans, Paschal Younge, Ben Munisteri, The Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, David Parsons and the Martha Graham Company and played at a variety of festivals and concerts including Lotus Fest, Lotus Blossoms, the Broad Ripple Art Fair and the Indy Jazz Fest 2007.
Selene Carter's proposal is in support of certification in Bill Evans Laban Based Modern Dance Technique. The Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) system studies movement through the elements of the body, effort, space and shape. It is practiced and applied to many settings involving the study of movement such as ergonomics, rehabilitation and movement re-education in physical and occupational therapy, athletics and dance pedagogy and choreography.
Fran Snygg biographical information
Professor Fran Snygg chaired the Arts Coordinating Council and shepherded Arts Week from its beginning in 1985 through 1994. She supported talented artists at IU and in the Bloomington community until her death in 1996 at age 53.
Snygg began studying dance seriously in her native state of New York with American modern dance legend Erick Hawkins. She came to IU to study dance with Jane Fox and earned her undergraduate degree in physical education with a dance specialization at IU in 1967. She attended the Tisch School of Fine Arts at New York University, completing a master's degree in fine arts with a focus in dance theatre, in 1971. Snygg returned to IU that year and began teaching as an assistant professor of modern dance in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation's Department of Kinesiology, becoming a full professor in 1990. She joined the school's graduate faculty in 1982 and became associate dean of faculties in 1984. In addition to being a professor at HPER, Snygg was also an associate professor in the Jacobs School of Music and in the Department of Theatre and Drama.
For more information on the endowment fund or grant, see https://www.indiana.edu/~vpfaa/grants.shtml or e-mail vpfaa@indiana.edu.
