Dance

Erika Randall and the Art of Anding

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 06:00:00 +0000

Erika Randall and the Art of Anding Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/10/2023 - 00:00

Christie Sounart

Erika Randall, professor of dance, has worked at ��ƷSM��ӰƬ since 2007. She is now associate dean for student success in the College of Arts and Sciences and dedicated to helping students achieve their goals through academic support and student-based services. In January, she launched her podcast The Ampersand, which focuses on people who eschew specialization and instead use their many interests to spur creativity and fulfillment.

After 16 years, what keeps you at ��ƷSM��ӰƬ?

It’s so interesting to land in a dance program in the middle of the country. But those who are making art here are truly exceptional. I knew if I came to a Tier 1 university, I would have mentors. I met the team and I thought, ‘These are badass artists. These are the kinds of humans I want to keep challenging and inspiring me.’ With most of my colleagues, we take each others’ classes. We sit in for each other. We co-teach. We lecture. We watch each other’s work. We are deep in conversation. It makes you better.

What has been your favorite class to teach at CU over the years?

I really love teaching ballet. I’ve been doing ballet since I was 5, and I just choreographed my first ballet because I didn’t trust that I could give proper trouble to the form until now. Even though ballet can be problematic, there’s something about its structure and its training. When I teach that class here, I get to blow open people’s ideas about ballet or themselves in ballet. We close the mirrors, we swear sometimes. The class is usually about half non-dance majors who grew up dancing — science majors, engineers. They come to ballet carrying with them some baggage and leave feeling liberated and like this form was returned to them in a way that they can dance for the rest of their lives.

What keeps you dancing?

Certainly not my knees and hips now. But I have an insatiable appetite for moving. I talk about the litany of things, and mine would read ‘dancer first.’ It’s the physics of motion and the relationship to bodies and music. The connection between falling and flying. If I’m not spinning off balance, I don’t know how to be. I’m always dancing — in every room, which means I am definitely a kitchen dancer. The happiest moments in my life have been dancing. It’s been a passport to my world experience. I’ve met my people because of dance. I got so lucky in this lifetime to be a dancer.

How do you think dance can influence big change?

Difficult conversations on things like race or gender or sexuality feel more manageable when you can sweat in a cypher with someone. Our students here are working on transformation and challenging systems. What is it like to learn through your body? In dance you mess up, but we are trying to get comfortable in failure. We need a dancer in every room where important decisions are made about bodies and time and space.

Tell us about your new podcast, The Ampersand.

The podcast is about this made-up concept of ‘anding.’ Anding is taking the conjunction and making it a verb. Anding can be about cooking and mothering and evolutionary biology and race car driving — all of these things create the uniquenesses that are us.

When I got to [the College of] Arts and Sciences, I realized everyone was very active and working across all these different disciplines. I went to [marketing’s] Tim Grassley, who is now the producer, and asked him what he thought about doing a podcast on this idea. It’s since been such a creative spark for us.

What’s been your reaction to the stories you’ve shared so far?

We’ve been surprised at how moved people are after listening. It’s been inspiring to students who haven’t been encouraged to study what they want — or a first-generation student who has a very specified path laid out for them. The alchemy of anding starts to create your weird, I say. It’s exciting for students, faculty and staff. And nobody can be mad at it because everyone gets to make it up for themselves, so it’s inclusive by nature.

What have you seen change at ��ƷSM��ӰƬ over the years that you love?

My colleagues Michelle Ellsworth and Markas Henry have been absolutely amazing. They are artists in the world who inspire me with their imagination, capacity and mentorship. I’m lucky to have them as best friends. And the students: I love watching the humans who are going to save the planet with and for us. They are just so creative. They put together their curiosities with such acuity that even if I don’t know what they are talking about, I feel lit and I feel hope.

What else do you do outside of this university?

I mom hard. Which means I spend a lot of time at skateparks. I love the sound of wheels on concrete, because that’s the sound of my son at peace and happy. I write every day, either letters to myself from ‘older Erika’ or a poem to my partner. I am a filmmaker — I’m finishing a documentary short about dance, percussion and song called Hambone Griot. I’ve been working on that film for 10 years, featuring the indomitable Rennie Harris. I like to read, kayak, watch baseball — things that slow me down. I like anything water-based.

I really like to talk to people every day, especially the humans I dearly love. I’m committed to reading poetry before email. And I go to yoga five days a week.

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Photos by Glenn Asakawa

Erika Randall launched her podcast <i>The Ampersand</i>, which focuses on people who eschew specialization and instead use their many interests to spur creativity and fulfillment.

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Summer 2023

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Inside CU's African Dance Class During the Pandemic

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Inside CU's African Dance Class During the Pandemic Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 07/02/2021 - 00:00

Grace Dearnley

Nii Armah Sowah dreaded teaching CU’s “African Dance — Ghanaian” during the pandemic.

“The whole course is based on expression and connection,” said Sowah, who’s instructed African dance classes at CU for more than 20 years.

To cut aerosol transmissions, Sowah decreased the chanting that accompanies dances, restructured classes and cut the typically required extracurricular bonding.

But the losses in no way caused a loss of heart.

“COVID deprived so many students of human contact. When we started dancing, there was this sense of strong desire to connect... this longing has helped us build a good community in the classes,” Sowah said.

When Sowah moved to the U.S. from Ghana in 1994, he soon realized that Americans identified him as “African” rather than Ghanaian. He recalls being thrust into a position of cultural ambassador for the entire continent — a role he does not take lightly. As a result, his course doesn’t just cover the moves. It also explores the tenets of African cultures, creating global citizens by expanding students’ cultural competencies.

“Africa has a lot of values, ideals and philosophies that are powerful and very meaningful in terms of supporting healthy life,” said Sowah. He hopes to foster appreciation and respect for African cultures by highlighting these values.

And, according to students, the course offers even more. Constance Harris (MDance’21) shared, “Embedded in the steps that we dance and the songs that we sing are life lessons that are grounded in personal accountability, community building, selflessness, confidence building, decolonization and joy.”

Rather than dwelling on class changes due to COVID — like the modified final celebration — Sowah views these sacrifices as another way to demonstrate the African spirit of resilience.

Growingup in Ghana, I experienced periods of famine and drought. We learned to manage and made do under the circumstances,” Sowah said. “We didn’t insist on living our life as if the world was not happening. We adjust as needed.”

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Photo by Matt Tyrie

Nii Armah Sowah’s dance class allows socially-starved students to regain community.

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Dance Appreciation

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 18:36:52 +0000

Dance Appreciation Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 01/25/2021 - 11:36

By Dawn Davis (MDance'96)

(Human Kinetics, 200 pages; 2022)

Dance is an activity that everyone can enjoy, and Dance Appreciation will help students do just that.

Dance Appreciation is written to encompass the needs of a broad range of dance students, from high school to university level, and is appropriate for students who are new to dance as well as those who are experienced in the art form. The text will help learners discover more about themselves, connect with dance, and make it a relevant and vital part of their lives, whether it is their primary course of study, eventual career path, or simply a way to express themselves and enrich their lives.

Dance is an activity that everyone can enjoy, and Dance Appreciation will help students do just that.

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10 Fun Classes at CU

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 21:31:55 +0000

10 Fun Classes at CU Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 07/19/2019 - 15:31

Joshua Nelson

Which one would you take?

1. Energy and Interactions (EDUC 1580): It's physics, but for future elementary-school teachers.

2. America Through Baseball (HIST 2516): The history of America's pastime, and how world events have affected it.

3. Geology of Colorado (GEOL 1040): A geological history of the state that's sure to impress.

4. Yoga, Ancient and Modern (RLST 2612): In sum: Yoga's been around for a long time.

5. Wild West Soundscapes (MUEL 2742): From hymns to folk to Hollywood soundtracks, a musical overview.

6. Trash and Treasure, Temples and Tombs: Art and Archaeology of the Ancient World (ARTH 1509): It's all in the title.

7. Stars and Galaxies (ASTR 1200): Includes lectures at Fiske Planetarium, and a nighttime obesrvation at Sommers-Basuch Obervatory.

8. Biology and Society (EBIO 1100): Exploration of social issues such as reproduction and population.

9. Mapping a Changing World (GEOG 2053): Map-reading for better awareness of nature and society.

10. DNCE (1000, 1100, 1200, 1301, 2501): Exercise for credit: CU offers Modern, Ballet, Jazz, Hip-Hop and African Dance.

These classes offer both intellectual stimulation and enjoyment.

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Serene Singh Is Oxford Bound

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 07:00:00 +0000

Serene Singh Is Oxford Bound Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/01/2019 - 00:00

Eric Gershon

Meet CU's first Rhodes Scholar in a quarter century. She's got her sights set on a U.S. Supreme Court seat— and a Miss America title.

Serene Singh had been a Rhodes Scholar for less than 48 hours last November when she boarded a flight for Southern California. She had a contest to get to, National American Miss, the nation’s biggest youth beauty pageant.

Rhodes Scholars are rare enough — Singh, a ��ƷSM��ӰƬ senior, is one of 32 from the U.S. in the latest crop and CU’s first winner in 25 years. Rhodes Scholars also aiming to be Miss America were perhaps unheard of until now.

But Singh (Jour, PolSci’19), a bhangra-dancing, snowboarding Boettcher Scholar from Colorado Springs with a 3.98 GPA, isn’t shy about the diversity of her ambitions, or much else, for that matter.

“There’s no class in confidence,” she recently told a Denver audience of about 750 CU alumni and friends while dressed in a bright yellow jumpsuit — you have it, or you build it.

The former Miss Colorado Teen and America’s Junior Miss said pageant competition has helped her cultivate presence, poise and a sense of her “own unique beauty.”

To pageant skeptics (she once was one), Singh says she skips bathing suit contests. But she doesn’t scoff at contestants who find confidence through them: “I say to those women, I think they should do it shamelessly. I applaud them for being bold.”

At 22, Singh has done a lot.

A champion debater, member of CU’s Presidents Leadership Class and chief justice of CU’s student government, she’s also a classic activator: She founded CU’s Sikh Student Association, the National Sikh Youth Program and the Serenity Project, a nonprofit group devoted to empowering marginalized women.

There’s no class in confidence, said Singh — you have it, or you build it.

Last spring, mere months before she became CU’s first woman Rhodes Scholar, she won a Truman Scholarship, which provides $30,000 awards for young people invested in public service and access to an alumni network rivaling the Rhodes’.

Last summer, after spending part of it as an Obama Foundation intern in Washington, she returned to campus and resumed the presidency of both CU’s Sikh Student Association and the political science honors society — all while leading the Colorado Bhangra Team, a competitive Punjabi dance squad. ��ƷSM��ӰƬ’s team, part of the statewide team, numbers about 30, she said, mostly non-Indians.

Singh, who grew up in a Sikh family, was also preparing to undertake an honors thesis about public perception of Sikhs in the U.S., tackling two majors and stopping nearly every dog she saw for a pet and a selfie.

“I’ve got about 400 now,” she said, presumably including her own chihuahua, Betta (“child,” in Hindi).

After commencement in May, the Rhodes Scholarship will take her to England for all-expenses-paid graduate study at the University of Oxford. There she’ll follow in the footsteps of many prominent Americans, including Rhodes alumni Bill Clinton, Rachel Maddow and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron White (Econ’38).

In all, 20 ��ƷSM��ӰƬ alumni have won the Rhodes since it was established in 1902. Before Singh, the last CU Buff Rhodes Scholar was Jim Hansen (Engr’92; MAeroEngr’93), in 1993. The former CU football captain later earned an Oxford Ph.D. Today he is superintendent of the Naval Research Laboratory’s Marine Meteorology Division.

Worldwide, there were 100 new Rhodes Scholars in 2018. Of the U.S. contingent, 21 were women, the most ever. Besides Singh, ��ƷSM��ӰƬ’s Nikki van den Heever (CivEngr’17; MEngr’19) made the final round.

At Oxford, Singh plans to study public policy, criminology and criminal justice, preparation for law school in the United States. Her long-term ambition, she said, is a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.

“People often hold themselves back through their own fear or self-doubt,” said Ross Taylor of CU’s College of Media, Communications and Information, who has taught Singh in several courses. “Serene may have doubt, but she overcomes it and is fearless.”

“There’s no dull at all in bhangra,” Singh said, noting it means ‘intoxicated with joy.’ “I think life should be lived like that, too.”

Before Singh leaves for the U.K., she’s got half a semester to enjoy at CU still, plus a running list of off-campus projects and adventures in mind.

She’ll wrap up the thesis, finalize plans for life overseas and convene with her Truman Scholar class in Washington. She wants to skydive, visit Hanging Lake near Glenwood Springs, see the world’s biggest collection of keys, stage a fashion show for the Serenity Project and leave the National Sikh Youth Program in trusted hands.

If it seems like Singh rarely rests, you’re onto something.

“I could do a much better job,” she said.

So, she dances whenever she gets a chance, even if it’s just a few steps on the way to class — ballet, hip-hop, bhangra.

It energizes her.

“There’s no dull at all in bhangra,” she said, noting it means ‘intoxicated with joy.’ “I think life should be lived like that, too.”

In our print edition, this story appears under the title "Oxford Bound."
Comment on this story? Email editor@colorado.edu.

Photos by Glenn Asakawa (Journ'86). To view more outtakes of our cover, click here.

Meet CU's first Rhodes Scholar in a quarter century. She's got her sights set on a U.S. Supreme Court seat— and a Miss America title.

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Spring 2019

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The Rehearsal Artist

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 07:00:00 +0000

The Rehearsal Artist Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 03/01/2018 - 00:00

NOW — January 2018

In “The Rehearsal Artist,” a new work by ��ƷSM��ӰƬ dance professor Michelle Ellsworth, the artist rotates inside an eight-foot-diameter wooden wheel. The audience sees only her head, encased in a box with an assortment of loose items — dolls, food, tiny furniture, plants. Ellsworth is fixed in position, but the objects all move, prompting reflection about “the nature of stability.”

The New York Times proclaimed the work, performed at the American Realness festival in New York in January, “eccentric and marvelously original.”

Photo by Nicholas Cote

In Michelle Ellsworth’s “The Rehearsal Artist,” the artist rotates inside an eight-foot-diameter wooden wheel.

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On the Move

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Feb 2018 23:09:39 +0000

On the Move Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 02/26/2018 - 16:09

Christie Sounart

For acrobat Marisa Kellogg (IntlAf’10), adventure is a continuous call.

Take, for instance, the time she was part of Boulder’s AscenDance Project, a group of dancers who perform a choreographed routine on a rock wall — without ropes.

Circus filled a void gymnastics left.

Or the period in 2016 she spent in the jungles of Colombia teaching acrobatics in Spanish. Or last year, when she helped lead a three-week children’s circus camp in the tiny town of Talkeetna, Alaska, population 876.

“Movement is a lifestyle for me,” said Kellogg, 28, who started gymnastics when she was four. “To me it’s a form of play — using and challenging my body in different ways for optimal physical and mental well-being.”

Originally from Washington, D.C., Kellogg is manager of the Fractal Tribe, a professional circus arts troupe based at the Boulder Circus Center. The group combines theatrics with dance, fire, acrobatics, aerial arts and music for audiences at festivals, theaters and conventions.

“We are made up of scientists, programmers, healers, teachers and activists,” said Kellogg, who lives full-time at the center, located on Boulder’s 26th Street, near Jay Road.

Kellogg’s competitive gymnastics career was sidelined by a back injury when she was 16 years old. But she still craved active performance and found an outlet in Boulder.

“Circus filled a void that gymnastics left,” said Kellogg. In performances, she does everything from partner acrobatics — including counter balances and adagios — to hand balancing. At Colorado’s Arise music festival in August 2017, she performed a fire dancing set on stage.

“I’ve performed with fire fans, palm torches, double staffs and a fire hoop,” she said. “I’ve gotten used to the smell of burnt hair.”

Off stage, Kellogg teaches adult gymnastics and circus classes. She helps her students develop better spatial and body awareness through activities like handstands, strength development and partner moves.

“Marisa brings her passion for community, play and collaboration into everything that she does,” said Fractal Tribe producer Lani Gordon. “Her movement and performance are a direct representation of her personality: Focused, committed, connected and skillful.”

For Kellogg, part of the job is to be ready for the unexpected. “Once, we performed outdoors for a fire festival in below freezing temperatures, and it was snowing so hard the stage turned into an ice rink,” she said. “The obstacles that come up are part of the process. Unless someone’s safety is at risk, the show must go on!”

Photo courtesy Steve Stoytchev Photography

For acrobat Marisa Kellogg, adventure is a continuous call.

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Campus News Briefs – Winter 2017

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 18:45:00 +0000

Campus News Briefs – Winter 2017 Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 12/01/2017 - 11:45

Saturn Finale

The dramatic September end of NASA’s Cassini mission concluded a 20-year run aboard the spacecraft for CU’s Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS), which helped analyze Saturn’s rings and moons.

1997

Year Cassini left Earth

4.9

Billion miles traveled

294

Saturn orbits completed

$12M

Cost of CU-built UVIS

Moons discovered

453,048

Images taken by Cassini

9/15

Cassini vaporized in Saturn's atmosphere

Heard Around Campus

In Boulder you're more likely to hear the whoosh of a cyclist than the shrill of a siren...”

— National Geographic, which in October named Boulder “Happiest City in the U.S.”

A Legend Among Us

Dance Magazine this fall named Lorenzo “Rennie” Harris, an artist-in-residence at ��ƷSM��ӰƬ, a “Living Legend,” placing him in the company of Fred Astaire, Pina Bausch and Misty Copeland, all past honorees.

A hip-hop choreographer from Philadelphia, Harris has received high praise before: In 2015, The New York Times called him “the most profound choreographer of that idiom.”

Harris is the founder of Rennie Harris Puremovement, a dance company that preserves and disseminates hiphop culture. He has taught at ��ƷSM��ӰƬ since 2009.

Dance Magazine annually recognizes artists who have “left a lasting impact on dance.”

Twins Aid Marijuana Research

As more states consider legalizing recreational marijuana use, scientists are trying to understand how it plays out in people’s lives.

With a $5.5 million award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a research team from ��ƷSM��ӰƬ and the University of Minnesota will assess whether legalization promotes use, for example, and try to identify the consequences of use for work, family and mental health. There’s little existing scientific evidence.

The team will study 1,250 sets of previously researched twins in Colorado, where sales of recreational marijuana have been permitted since 2014, and 1,250 sets of twins in Minnesota, where it remains illegal. Using the Minnesota twins as a control group, the scientists will look for behavioral changes in the Colorado twins since 2014.

“There is clear need for solid scientific evidence,” said study co-leader John Hewitt, director of ��ƷSM��ӰƬ’s Institute for Behavioral Genetics.

The study could result in more concrete guidelines. Colorado and Washington were the first states to legalize recreational marijuana use, in 2012.

For more details, visit ��ƷSM��ӰƬ Today online.

Boulder named happiest city, Cassini's dramatic end, a dance legend and new marijuana research.

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Winter 2017

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Aerial Dancer

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Jun 2017 06:00:00 +0000

Aerial Dancer Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 06/01/2017 - 00:00

The 69th annual Conference on World Affairs brought thousands of people to campus April 10-14 for nearly 200 talks, panels and performances, including an improv aerial dance featuring Lena Gutschank, left. She is a founding member of the German circus research and lobby group Netzwerk Zirkus.

Photo by Patrick Campbell.

The Conference on World Affairs brought thousands of people to campus April 10-14 for nearly 200 talks, panels and performances, including an improv aerial dance featuring Lena Gutschank.

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Dance

Erika Randall and the Art of Anding

After 16 years, what keeps you at ��ƷSM��ӰƬ?

What has been your favorite class to teach at CU over the years?

What keeps you dancing?

How do you think dance can influence big change?

Tell us about your new podcast, The Ampersand.

What’s been your reaction to the stories you’ve shared so far?

What have you seen change at ��ƷSM��ӰƬ over the years that you love?

What else do you do outside of this university?

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10 Fun Classes at CU

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Serene Singh Is Oxford Bound

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The Rehearsal Artist

NOW — January 2018

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Campus News Briefs – Winter 2017

Saturn Finale

Heard Around Campus

A Legend Among Us

Twins Aid Marijuana Research

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Aerial Dancer

Off

Dance

Erika Randall and the Art of Anding

After 16 years, what keeps you at ��ƷSM����ӰƬ?

What has been your favorite class to teach at CU over the years?

What keeps you dancing?

How do you think dance can influence big change?

Tell us about your new podcast, The Ampersand.

What’s been your reaction to the stories you’ve shared so far?

What have you seen change at ��ƷSM����ӰƬ over the years that you love?

What else do you do outside of this university?

Related Articles

Inside CU's African Dance Class During the Pandemic

Off

Dance Appreciation

Off

10 Fun Classes at CU

Off

Serene Singh Is Oxford Bound

Related Articles

The Rehearsal Artist

NOW — January 2018

Off

On the Move

Off

Campus News Briefs – Winter 2017

Saturn Finale

Heard Around Campus

A Legend Among Us

Twins Aid Marijuana Research

Related Articles

Aerial Dancer

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After 16 years, what keeps you at ��ƷSM��ӰƬ?

What have you seen change at ��ƷSM��ӰƬ over the years that you love?