Faculty Updates

WELCOME IRVIN GONZALEZ

The School of Dance welcomes to the Faculty, Dr. Irvin Gonzalez. We are so excited to have Irvin join us and we look forward to the richness of knowledge he will add to the course offerings.

Irvin Manuel Gonzalez, Ph.D. (he/him/his) is a recent graduate of the University of California, Riverside in the Critical Dance Studies Program. His research analyzes quebradita, a Mexican/Mexican American social dance form. Gonzalez considers how immigrant, queer, and working-class quebradita dancers construct mexicanidades to navigate trans/national politics. He examines how affective affiliations between quebradores/as/ xs, on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, are embodied to forge belonging as strategy. In doing so, Gonzalez theorizes the body as an archive of movement that brown dancers use to resist xenophobia/homophobia and the instability of neoliberal economies. He is a founding member of Primera Generación Dance Collective (PGDC) and a board member for Show Box Los Angeles (SBLA) and the Dance Studies Association (DSA).

As a dance artist, he revels in the potentials of collaborations. Gonzalez emphasizes how people connect to produce new aesthetics and affectivities, often looking to dismantle notions of the “solo artist” by highlighting how bodies are always already ancestrally-connected and linked to one another through emotions and experiences. Focusing on the investigation of ‘mexicanidades’ as a communal formation, his collective, PGDC, fuses their various trainings and dance knowledges (modern, postmodern, jazz, cumbia, quebradita, salsa, and contact improvisation) to develop ways of moving that speak to the concept/ualization of mestizaje. As such, PGDC highlights the plural desires that stem from different notions of brownness and brown belonging. FAREWELL DOUG CORBIN

Congratulations to Associate Professor Douglas Corbin on his retirement from the FSU School of Dance. Doug joined the SoD family in 1996 and has contributed in amazing ways not only as a musical accompanist to the ballet and contemporary classes but through an extensive list of course offerings helping our students understand the importance of musical theory and dance. Doug’s work with students on thesis concerts, capstone projects, special showings, and other creative works will surely be missed.

Corbin is a dance musician specializing in music for training, acclaimed for his work with numerous teachers, companies and schools, including the Ailey School, David Howard, Steps, Twyla Tharpe, Merce Cunningham Company, American Ballet Theatre and the American Dance Festival. He has made dozens of recordings for technique class, and led workshops on music for dance throughout Europe, Asia and South America. He holds BA and MA degrees from Hunter College, City University of New York.

Doug was offered and accepted a position in Oldenberg, Germany at the Oldenburgisches Staatstheater with Ballettcompagnie Oldenburg.

We wish you all the best in this next phase of your life. Continue to “Do it with Love.”

NANCY SMITH FICHTER

SCHOLARSHIP DONORS

The School of Dance would like to thank the donors to the Nancy Smith Fichter Scholarship fund for their generosity and dedication. Our programs, students, and faculty are achieving greatness because of their support.

Ellen A. Ashdown Stan S. Bobo Martha A. Brim & Kenneth W. May Caroline F. & Dennis J. Caine Kathryn K. Cashin Barbara B. Cooper Deborah A. De Correvont James P. & Gayle M. Doherty Amy E. & Robert E. Dowling Grayal E. Farr Joyce-Ann B. & Richard C. Fausone Patricia Fenda Beverly B. Frick Barbara J. & Keith A. Gordon Diane Guida Dennise M. Hewlett Kimberly M. Holt Janet M. & Peter F. Hughes Jeanne R. Keen Debra F. Levin Cricket & Douglas Mannheimer Marion B. & Walter L. Moore Leslie Neal Patsy J. Palmer Carla Peterson Patricia H. Phillips Sherrill W. & James W. Ragans Courtney J. Samanen Marshall E. Swiney Vincent E. Thomas Steve Urse Mary L. Ward Kathryn White Austin Cathy L. & Eugene S. Wright Jawole Zollar

Listing represents donors who made gifts between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021 to the Nancy Smith Fichter Scholarship Fund at the FSU Foundation. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. Should you have any corrections or questions, please contact the College Advancement Office at 850-645-0701.

For a complete list of donors to the Nancy Smith Fichter Scholarship Fund since its inception in 1999, visit dance.fsu.edu/nancy-smith-fichter-scholarship-donors/.

To make a gift, visit give.fsu.edu/nancysmithfichter.