USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance

USC Kaufman’s newest class of BFA students, the Class of 2023, enjoyed a variety of activities during USC’s Welcome Week. Events included USC Kaufman’s Meet the Dean event, USC’s New Student Convocation and more.

This fall, the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance welcomes Artist in Residence Hope Boykin. Boykin is a choreographer, educator and current member of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Performing professionally for over two decades, she has traveled the world and learned many lessons, which she never hesitates to use as food and fuel for her performances. We asked her to share a bit about herself.

After a fulfilling and challenging two weeks dancing at Orsolina 28’s Forsythe/Pite Program in Moncalvo, Italy, the day finally came. Sophia Oddi (BFA ‘19), Alyssa Allen (BFA ‘19) and I awoke early Saturday morning to embark on our adventure to perform at the second annual Music & More SummerFest in Trebinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina with ArtistsPlus Dance Company.

This fall, the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance enters its second year of Kaufman Connections. This partnership with 32nd Street Elementary School offers a 24-week, hip-hop dance program led by USC Kaufman BFA students, who are also known as “teaching artists.”

The USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance BFA program was conceived with a conservatory-style emphasis on dance, but is embedded in a top-tier university. What exactly does this mean? BFA students at USC Kaufman take on technique, repertory, improvisation, and composition. Simultaneously, they meet the general education requirements of the university.

The NDT summer intensive already exceeds any and all expectations that I previously had for the course. And it is only Week One! I can feel the love for dance radiating through the studios. I am truly humbled to be in such a supportive and inspiring environment.

With the help of current Batsheva dancers and GAGA teachers Billy Barry and Kyle Scheurich, Bret Easterling will bring the mysterious technique to Los Angeles dancers, imparting its special tactics for body awareness and sensation.

USC Kaufman’s newest group of BFA freshmen will become the school’s fifth class. The class of 2023, with 26 students total, will begin courses mid-August. Read this post to learn more about each dancer.

Kate Dunn is a dancer, choreographer and educator known for performing on stage, screen and Broadway. Broadway/West End credits include Contact, On Your Toes, Chicago, Billy Elliot, Matilda the Musical, Groundhog Day and Dirty Dancing. We asked her thoughts on her career and what she hopes students will take away from her classes.

USC Kaufman is seeking applicants for a full-time Associate Director, Individual Giving. Reporting to the Director of Advancement, the Associate Director, Individual Giving will manage a portfolio of individual prospects and donors ranging from $1 up to $100,000.

This fall, the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance welcomes Dr. Marisa Hentis, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS, who will teach Conditioning for Dancers and Dance Science. We asked her to share a bit about herself, her practice and her advice for students.

USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance alumnae Satori Folkes-Stone (BFA ’19) and Madison Vomastek (BFA ’19), who recently finished with their undergraduate studies, are packing up and moving across the country to another big city. The two dancers will join the cast of the upcoming Broadway revival of West Side Story.

Next month, REDCAT’s New Original Works Festival will close its last weekend of three with USC Kaufman alumnus Austyn Rich’s (BFA ’19) latest work, BL**DY SPAGHETTI. Rich and fellow alumnus Alvaro Montelongo (BFA ’19) will perform the work. 

This summer, USC Kaufman’s Board of Councilors gains two new members: Donya Bommer and Ramona Cappello. Both USC alumnae with strong ties to dance, these two members will serve alongside Dean Robert Cutietta and the rest of the board to support the art form in a university setting.

Three USC Kaufman alumni have already returned to the studios to teach at the Taylor intensive in Los Angeles—Corbin trusts them that much. While Corbin and former Taylor dancer Rachel Berman teach Taylor technique and repertory, Ardyn Flynt (BFA ’19) and Olivia Euritt (BFA ’19) will teach Funkamental MediKinetics and Yoga, respectively. Justin Epstein (BFA ’19) will accompany classes.

The ephemeral nature of dance as an art form is widely discussed throughout the medium—how, scholars ask, can we archive the history of a movement that begins and ends with the blink of an eye? A new project at the USC Libraries is taking one approach to this eternal problem.

June 30 is an important annual deadline. It is the end of our fiscal year and a time where we reflect on the school’s many accomplishments, thanks to the generosity of our annual supporters and friends. With only one week left in fiscal year 2019, we hope you will consider donating to fund critical scholarships for incoming and current USC Kaufman students.

Los Angeles-based choreographer Marissa Osato is in her element at the New Movement Residency—with time and space to choreograph in her own neighborhood, she finds that concentrated resources help her cast of local dancers to focus and create. She’s using the time to reimagine her MFA thesis, The Spectacular Society.

New Movement Residency artist Micaela Taylor and her company The TL Collective have made quite the name for themselves in recent years. Based in Los Angeles, the company has several stages to hit this summer.

Testa applied for USC Kaufman’s New Movement Residency this year with the general idea that he would make a new work. Upon seeing the high ceilings and expansive space at the Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center, however, he decided to go bigger.

USC Kaufman is seeking applicants for a full-time position as Administrative Associate. Reporting directly to Director of Faculty Affairs and Human Resources, the Administrative Associate will provide direct administrative support in the areas of faculty affairs, human resources, and student services.

The first cohort to graduate from the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance houses more than just dancers. Each has a multifaceted set of interests that allows them a unique career path. Below, and in two other posts, they discuss their intentions for work post-commencement.

The graduates of the inaugural BFA class at the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance have a diverse set of career paths ahead of them. Below, read a little about each graduate, where they’re going next, and the goals they aim to achieve.

USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance and USC Thornton School of Music students are in France through June 9 for our 2019 Paris Maymester. During this course, students explore moments in Parisian salon culture as sites of artistic inspiration and collaboration.

USC Kaufman is seeking two Admission and Student Services Officers. Both full-time positions will report directly to the Assistant Dean of Admission and Student Services. These individuals will work closely with a dynamic team of staff and faculty in delivering a range of student services.

The first class of graduates from the USC Kaufman BFA program hosts a range of polymaths. Get to know more about where they’re headed after commencement, their career goals and more.

Throughout the curriculum implemented at the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, BFA dance students interact with many faculty members on a daily basis. Several faculty members have assumed mentorship positions for these students, whether they know it or not.

On Friday, May 10, 2019, the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance graduated its first-ever class of BFA students. Watch the ceremony’s keynote address from internationally-acclaimed dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov and read more about the school’s satellite ceremony.

On Saturday, April 27, USC Kaufman Board of Councilors members, Founder’s Circle members, faculty, staff and the graduating BFA Class of 2019 joined together to celebrate the school’s meteoric rise since its grand opening in the fall of 2015.

With graduation just around the corner, USC Kaufman’s inaugural class of BFA students has acquired countless memories. Here, they reflect on a few of their favorite moments, and on their overall growth as artists and scholars.