Authors: Sarah Ahlswede, Taylor Ashton, Madison DeLong, Emily Jarosz, Claire Tilley, Laura Wester

Department: School of Theatre and Dance

Co-Advisor: Jeffrey Marc Rockland

Expanding Minds Through International Collaborations in Dance

Today’s dancer must be versatile as well as culturally engaged. The infusion of styles from across the globe is a constant occurrence in entertainment and theatre.

Over the course of two weeks, Kent State University participated in an educational exchange and performance experience which included work with two Thai Universities, each with over 200 Theatre & Dance Majors. The Kent students involved were challenged with learning and performing Thai classical movement, sharing western dance forms and collaborating in the creation of an integrated work of choreography. This brought "East" and "West" together. All of the participants involved believe this collaboration brought to light the importance of cultural exchange amongst aspiring artists.

This presentation is based on the first hand experiences of the students from Kent State University’s Dance Division. During the allotted time, we plan to present and discuss the importance of support for dance study abroad programs at the collegiate level. We will include the importance of making international connections with universities and their dance faculty. Also, we will include necessary tools that went into collaborating with the Thai students for the final performance show. Through this presentation, we hope to provide valuable information to educators and spectators on the collaboration process and how overcoming the language barrier was used through movement.