Kennesaw State University Choreographic Residency

Made possible by the Eleo Pomare–Glenn Connor Dance Endowment

The Choreographic Residency program at KSU invites two nationally-emerging or mid-career choreographers to the Department of Dance each summer for a four-week residency to create two world premieres on the KSU Dance Company. Invited choreographers will audition and select dancers, preferably for ten students, for which they will create an original choreographic 30-minute group work. The residency culminates in two fully produced pieces, presented as a double bill in our state-of-the-art KSU Dance Theater. A panel of industry and university professionals will review and select choreographers. The department will announce the recipients of this residency in the spring. 

The residency is designed to support the creative process of emerging or mid-career artists with an emphasis on innovation and movement invention. The goal of the residency is to increase students' access to the professional practice of dance while further enhancing and enriching their dance education at KSU. The resident choreographers receive a $5,000 honorarium. Housing, travel, and per diem are included in the honorarium. The Dance Department will provide additional travel funds of up to $1,000 to return to KSU at the beginning of the fall term for rehearsals and performances.  

This program is made possible by the Eleo Pomare–Glenn Conner Dance Endowment, which is funded by a generous gift from Jay and Debra Yunek. The Eleo Pomare-Glenn Conner Dance Endowment honors their late uncle, Glenn Conner, and his partner, Eleo Pomare. Eleo Pomare was known for his artistic range and his innovative approach to choreography. He was a prolific choreographer whose work often focused on instances of social inequality and injustice. 

HOW TO APPLY?

Applications are now open! The deadline for submissions is October 30, 2021. Please provide:

A CV outlining choreographic history 
A description of the proposed work
Two complete works (not excerpts). One sample must be a group work.
Three references

Apply for the Eleo Pomare-Glenn Connor Choreographic Residency

We partner with Acceptd to host our applications.

For further information, please contact ksudance@kennesaw.edu

Meet the Choreographers

• Annalee Traylor (Summer 2021)

  Annalee Traylor is a NYC-based freelance creator/choreographer and educator. She is a high school graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts and received her BFA with honors from Point Park University. Her live work has been presented at numerous venues in cities nationally and abroad including Los Angeles, NYC, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Huntsville, Texas, and Rotterdam, Netherlands, and her films have been shown in Seattle, Temecula, Brooklyn, Rome, Minnesota, and at the American Dance Festival in North Carolina.
  
  She has been commissioned by Periapsis Music and Dance, Texture Contemporary Ballet, REED Dance, Infra Dance Company of Carnegie Mellon, Point Park University's International Summer Dance, DanceCanvas, and Voices Carry Inc., and she has been awarded residencies through Terra Nova, Periapsis Music and Dance, Highways Performance Space, and the Dance Gallery Festival. Most recently, she was named Outstanding Choreographer at the 2020 Youth America Grand Prix regionals.
  
  Annalee feels a personal responsibility and finds joy in sharing her passion and knowledge with younger generations. She has taught master classes throughout the United States and been on faculty at schools on the east and west coasts. Guest teaching credits include: Carnegie Mellon University, Sam Houston State University, Point Park University, Slippery Rock University, Dekalb School of the Arts, and The Creative and Performing Arts High School in Pittsburgh among others.

• Omar Román De Jesús (Summer 2021) 

  Omar Román De Jesús (he/him), originally from Bayamón, Puerto Rico, is a recipient of the 2020 Jacob's Pillow Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship. He has been commissioned twice by Instituto de Cultura de Puerto Rico to create work for the International Dance Festival of Puerto Rico, where he was awarded the Ambassador of Dance medal.

  Omar has won choreographic competitions including the Joffrey Academy of Dance's Winning Works Choreographic Competition and Whim W’Him’s Choreographic Shindig, and received awards including the Audience Award at The Dance Gallery Festival, 1st place prize at the Reverb Dance Festival, and the Parsons Dance GenerationNOW Commission for their 2017 Joyce Season. He has also created work for Jacob Jonas The Company and educational institutions such as The Ailey School, James Madison University, and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

  His work was presented at the 2020 CHOP SHOP: Bodies of Work Contemporary Dance Festival and will be presented, online and live, at the upcoming PRISMA International Dance Festival in Panama, the Jerusalem International Choreographic Competition, and the Palm Desert Choreography Festival. Omar will be creating a new work on Bruce Wood Dance this upcoming March.