By Dan Nonte, University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-4314
Posted: 8-14-08
Jan Van Dyke. Photo courtesy of Steve Clarke.
GREENSBORO, NC – Dr. Jan Van Dyke, a professor and head of the UNCG Department of Dance, has received the 2008 Dance Teacher Award for Higher Education.
Dance Teacher magazine presented the award this week at the Javits Center in New York City. Van Dyke was honored for her 20 years of teaching at UNCG, helping students discover their own artistic identities in part through her example as a dance professional.
In addition to her work at the university, she directs and choreographs for her own company, the Jan Van Dyke Dance Group, and works with the Dance Project at City Arts, which offers more than 25 classes each week to children and adults in downtown Greensboro.
She co-founded the North Carolina Dance Festival in 1991 and has served as its coordinator ever since. The festival, an annual showcase of North Carolina-based dancers and choreographers, will include performances in six communities around the state.
Her book, “Modern Dance in a Postmodern World,” was published in 1992. A recipient of a Choreographer’s Fellowship from the state of North Carolina and a Fulbright Scholar, Van Dyke spent three months teaching dance at Portugal’s Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa in 1993, and she spent six weeks at the Western Australia Academy for the Performing Arts in 2000. In 2001, she received the Annual Award for Contributions to the Field from the NC Dance Alliance.
Dance Teacher, a monthly magazine that boasts a readership of 60,000, annually honors dance educators in the categories of private studio, K-12 and higher education.
