SALT LAKE CITY, July 20, 2010 – The College of Fine Arts at the University of Utah is pleased to announce the appointment of Stephen Koester as Interim Chair of the Department of Modern Dance, effective July 1, 2010. This appointment is in recognition of Associate Professor Koester’s significant achievements and contributions to the field of dance and to the University. Donna White, the former chair of the Department, assumed the position of Associate Dean for the Graduate School.
Mr. Koester joined the Modern Dance faculty in 1999 and served as Director of Graduate Studies for the Department from 2002 until accepting his position as interim chair. In 2008, Stephen was named a University Professor and in 2002 received the College of Fine Arts, Faculty Excellence Award in Teaching, Research and Service. In the Department of Modern Dance, Stephen regularly choreographs and teaches improvisation, composition, modern technique and undergraduate/graduate seminars. This fall Stephen will also teach a course in the Honor’s Program.
Outside of the Department, Stephen remains an active artist/choreographer, working both nationally and internationally, including at the Bates Dance Festival, Taiwan International Dance Festival, Beijing Dance Academy, CSU – Long Beach, University of Illinois, Tulane University and Repertory Dance Theatre Summer Workshop. He continues to choreograph for professional dance companies including his own company Dance Koester Dance, which has presented several seasons at the Rose Wagner Center for Performing Arts in Salt Lake City. His work has been in the repertoire of the Dance Forum Taipei, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, Repertory Dance Theatre, Eisenhower Ensemble and Pittsburgh Dance Alloy. In 2006, Stephen received a Utah Established Artist Fellowship from the Utah Arts Council, and in 2005 won the Repertory Dance Theatre’s national “Sense of Place” choreographic competition.
Prior to coming to the University of Utah, Stephen was Co-Artistic Director of Creach/Koester, a dance company based in New York City that toured throughout the US, Canada and Europe. With partner Terry Creach, Stephen received five consecutive choreographic fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts plus a choreographic fellowship from the New York State Foundation for the Arts.
Stephen looks forward to serving the Department, College and University in his new role. Dean Raymond Tymas-Jones, who also serves as the Associate Vice President for the Arts at the University, enthusiastically welcomes Professor Koester to the Interim Chair position.
College of Fine Arts
www.finearts.utah.edu
801.581.6764
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