Department of Dance
B.J. Sullivan, Associate Professor
323 HHP Building, PO BOX 26170
Greensboro, NC 27402-6170
(336) 334–3264 (office)
(336) 334–3238 (fax)
ejsulli2@uncg.edu
With her creation of “Safety Release Technique,” a comprehensive system that prepares dancers for full-bodied and vivid expressiveness, B.J. is among a handful of studio teachers worldwide who have developed a movement/performance training technique for contemporary dance. The technique, regarded as unique and fresh, has B.J. maintaining a rigorous teaching schedule with her instruction in the vocabulary that incorporates somatic sciences with release forms. B.J. has been a guest artist at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, North Carolina School of the Arts in North Carolina, Ascona Dance Festival in Switzerland, and Le Centre Des Arts Vivants in Paris, France. Since 1999, B.J. continues to be a guest faculty member at Dance New Amsterdam in Manhattan, NY, and this year has invitations to universities and art schools in Florida, and abroad in Aruba, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey.
As a choreographer, B.J. reaches for honest responses, inspired by people, to make pieces that relate to the passions, frustrations, and curiosities of our existence. Described as unique, fluid, and physical, her dances go beyond the sentimental and the romantic to offer the audience a total and real kinesthetic experience. In 1999, B.J. was one of four selected for the Bessie Schönberg residency at The Yard on Martha’s Vineyard and was also invited to choreograph there in two consecutive sessions of the Patricia N. Nanon Residency. In 2002, B.J. was honored with a Choreographer’s Fellowship from the NC Arts Council. Her work has been showcased in The North Carolina Dance Festival, Independent Dance Makers in Durham, The North Carolina School for the Arts in Winston-Salem, DNA Gene Pool Series in New York City, The Isadora Project with solo artist Christine Jowers in New York City, Urban Wash Dance Company in New York City, Chelonia Dance Ensemble in Beloit, WI, Counter Groove Dance Company in Detroit, Concepts In Motion in Bermuda, and the Professional School Dance Ensemble in Thessaloniki, Greece. This year, B.J. will be creating her second commission for Concepts In Motion in Bermuda and a first commission for Kinaisthesis in Greece.
B.J.’s career has ranged from formal training at The Boston Ballet School and The Juilliard School (BFA), performing with choreographers and companies including Dance Makers in Toronto, Colin Connor, Joe Goode, Gerri Houlihan, Ralph Lemon, Renee Wadleigh, and Bill Young, to receiving her (MFA) while teaching and choreographing in the dance program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.