Department of Dance - News

Student News

KU Dance Alum Winner of National Dance Scholarship

LAWRENCE – University of Kansas alumnus and Hugoton native Beau Hancock recently received a nationally competitive 2009 Cleveland Art Prize for study in dance.

Hancock, who graduated from KU in 2005, will use the Cleveland award’s Kathryn Karipides Modern Dance Scholarship to study with the New York City-based Limón Dance Company this summer.

Hancock currently is a University Fellow at Temple University pursuing a master of fine arts in dance. 

After graduating from Hugoton High School, Hancock attended KU, earning a bachelor of arts in dance and American studies. While a KU student, he helped found the Bowery Dancers, a Lawrence-based movement collective, and performed with 940 Dance Company, Cohan/Suzeau Dance Company, and KU’s University Dance Company.

Hancock’s choreography has been presented at the Merce Cunningham Studio, Westbeth Art Gallery, Movement Research at Dance Theater Workshop, and Flea Theater, all in New York City, as well as at the Lied Center, Lawrence Arts Center and Elizabeth Sherbon Dance Theatre in Lawrence.

In New York since 2005, he has performed with Ben Munisteri Dance Projects, Cornfield Dance, and Douglas Dunn and Dancers.

KU Dance Alum Gives “flawless performance” in NYC

LAWRENCE - A July 22, 2009 Backstage review of a New York City performance by Pilobolus said  " Jun Kuribayashi gives a flawless performance of "Pseudopodia, ...Kuribayashi's pure-movement showpiece."

Jun, born in Japan then raised in the US since age 5, grew up excelling in athletics. After spending his youth in countless pools competing and break dancing/Capoeira the local dance scene away, he officially started dancing at age 22 attending the University of Kansas. He received his BFA in dance and quickly premiered as a professional dancer with Momix in 2004. Jun joined Pilobolus in 2004 and will be performing with them when they appear at the Lied Center on Friday, March 5, 2010.

Faculty News

KU Professor Featured in New York City Dance Exhibit

LAWRENCE – University of Kansas dance department chair Jerel Hilding is featured in an exhibit at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center in New York City through September 13.

“Diaghilev’s Theater of Marvels: The Ballets Russes and its Aftermath” features Hilding performing as a soloist in a “Dance in America” television special of the Joffrey Ballet’s staging of Michel Fokine’s classic ballet “Petrouchka.” Vaslav Nijinsky premiered in the title role in 1911. Hilding also appears in LÈonide Massine’s 1917 ballet “Parade,” with sets and costumes designed by Picasso.

Hilding performed internationally as a principal dancer with the New York City-based Joffrey Ballet for 15 years before joining the KU faculty. He danced in ballets by many of the 20th century’s most influential choreographers including Fokine, George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Frederick Ashton, LÈonide Massine, Gerald Arpino, John Cranko, Kurt Jooss, and Twyla Tharp.