Dr. Maura Keefe named Dorothy G. Madden Professor in Dance 2018-2020
December 07, 2017
Congratulations to Professor Maura Keefe on being selected as the next Dorothy G. Madden Professor in Dance from Fall 2018 to Spring 2020!
Congratulations to Professor Maura Keefe on being selected as the next Dorothy G. Madden Professor in Dance from Fall 2018 to Spring 2020!
Dr. Keefe has spent her career supporting dance creation, education, and preservation. She is a leading voice in the development of nationally recognized Audience Engagement programs in dance, through her writing, public interviewing, and lectures around the world. Her research in audience engagement has primarily taken place at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Her more recent work in the digital humanities enables her to expand her research to a wide range of dance cultures and other disciplines, such as theatre, music, and visual art.
With the support of the Dorothy Madden Professorship, Dr. Keefe will investigate audience engagement in dance and develop a platform for deepening the relationships among dance artists, dance writers, and audiences. She will travel to international festivals and investigate the activities surrounding dance performances that contribute to audience engagement, such as marketing, lectures, and discussions. She anticipates traveling to festivals in countries such as Finland, Croatia, Germany, and China for this research.
Dr. Keefe is also planning to create opportunities for students, artists, and dance writers at the University of Maryland and surrounding community to engage in discussions, roundtables, and workshops related to dance criticism, dance creation, artistry and aesthetics, and arts advocacy.
Dr. Maura Keefe interviews choreographer Camille A. Brown at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival - Photo by Christopher Duggan
Dr. Keefe will be taking over the Dorothy G. Madden Professorship in Dance from Professor Sara Pearson, who created choreographic and dance opportunities with students through engagements with artists from Africa to Israel. The Professorship is awarded by the Dean of Arts and Humanities for a two-year period to an Associate or Full Professor Dance faculty member who has made a significant contribution to the discipline. The funds for this position are used to create opportunities for students and to further the faculty member’s research.
Congratulations, Dr. Keefe!
Headshot by David Dashiell.