.Cynthia DuFault.

PROPOSAL

FACUL-TE AWARD $500 (AMERICAN COLLEGE DANCE

ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE TRAVEL) 

JANUARY 2018

​

​

 

1. Please describe the activity for which you seek Facul-TE funding. 

 

I will be attending the American College Dance Association (ACDA) Northeast Regional Conference as SUNY Department of Theatre and Dance faculty representative/advisor of Dance Ensemble as well as a conference instructor. The conference’s main focus is to nurture the wealth of talent and innovation that is prominent throughout college and university dance departments. It provides the outlet for students and faculty to engage in three days of performances, workshops, panels, and master classes taught by instructors from around the region and country. Students and faculty can also participate in having their dance works adjudicated by a panel of nationally recognized dance professionals in an open and constructive forum. The conferences are the primary means for college/university dance programs to perform outside their own academic setting and be exposed to the diversity of the national college dance world. 

 

 

2. Explain how this activity is conducive to the improvement of teaching and/or active learning strategies in the classroom and college environment, please be as specific as possible (i.e. provide examples how this experience directly relates to courses you have or will teach at SUNY Potsdam). 

 

ACDA has always reflected both practical and educational applications. It brings together artistically diverse students and faculty, giving insight into the big picture of dance. As a whole, ACDA assists in both raising standards of excellence in college/university dance programs and enforcing the mission we all share as dance educators, which is to work with a vision while remaining flexible to ensure an ongoing and active role for dance, addressing the changes in the field, the institutions, and the surrounding world. I find the personal and professional connections that I have made with other faculty have been a tremendous benefit for me as an educator and artist. ACDA classes/workshops are centered around technique, choreography, performance, innovation, and assessment, which are so informative for students and are all areas that I teach. Attending this conference helps me feel better informed of college/university dance and current teaching trends experienced in different institutions which, in the long run, helps me serve my students better.  The profoundness of this conference is as such that SUNY Potsdam, Department of Theatre and Dance hosted the New England regional last spring, and it has also been a long-time Department tradition to give students and faculty the opportunity to engage in such a rich experience. 

​

​

​

​