University Theatre, C334
Nancy Smith is the founder and artistic director of Boulder, Colorado, based Frequent Flyers庐 Productions, a 501(c)3 non-profit, since its inception in 1988 and the international聽Aerial Dance Festival聽since 1999.
Ms. Smith is an alumna of The Colorado College, where she received a B.A. in Fine Arts: Dance, and she studied under the master鈥檚 program in dance at UCLA before moving to Seattle to work with Joan Skinner鈥檚 dance company. Under Joan鈥檚 tutelage, Ms. Smith received extensive training in Skinner Releasing Technique. Based in Boulder, Colorado, since 1985, she has developed the Aerial Release Technique (A.R.T.), which she has taught locally and around the US. Ms. Smith鈥檚 A.R.T. is the foundation for the Frequent Flyers鈥� teaching method. This method focuses on release, use of breath, correct alignment and economy of effort, poetic imagery, and a codified vocabulary. Students training with Ms. Smith gain mastery in the air and beautiful transitions from the ground to the air and back again.
Ms. Smith has received numerous awards and honors including 鈥淲omen Who Light the Community鈥�,聽the 鈥淐utting Edge鈥� Award from the Colorado Dance Alliance, the Boulder County 鈥淧acesetters Award for Arts and Entertainment鈥�, a Neodata Endowment Fellowship in Dance, and the 鈥淎rts Innovation Award鈥� from the Colorado Federation of the Arts.
Frequent Flyers庐 Aerial Dance, under the leadership of Ms. Smith, has gained international recognition as a pioneer in the field of aerial dance.聽Ms. Smith and colleague, Jayne Bernasconi (Baltimore, MD) co-authored the first book on aerial dance,聽Aerial Dance聽(June, 2008) available from Human Kinetics.