Interdisciplinary Performance Symposium
Florida State University’s Second Annual Interdisciplinary Performance Symposium will be held on Saturday, October 24th from 8:30am – 5:30pm in Montgomery Hall, FSU. The symposium is made possible by generous support from The Florida State University Graduate School, the School of Dance, and the Center for the Music of the Americas. Graduate students created the event last year to deepen an understanding of the many ways the arts and performance studies can interact and collaborate. This year will not only bring together academic disciplines across FSU’s campus to share performance research, but for the first time, participatory workshops will be offered from dance, music, art, and theater, giving attendees a chance to immerse themselves in creative, interdisciplinary work.
The symposium invites community members and scholars studying in music, dance, theatre, anthropology, sociology, communication, cultural studies, and any other academic track interested in performance to attend and participate in a full day of events. Morning sessions include research presentations and live performances, followed by a collaborative film screening and talkback discussion. A free brown bag lunch will be provided for the first sixty participants. The afternoon features a variety of multi-disciplinary workshops where participants are encouraged to wear comfortable clothing that does not hinder movement, and observers are welcome. The day will conclude with a Performance Lab, as well as a keynote presentation and workshop by Duane Cyrus.
Duane Cyrus is an Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where he teaches dance technique, entrepreneurship, repertory, and other courses focused on the development of well-rounded dance artists. Cyrus holds a BFA from the Julliard School and an MFA from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In between, he danced with the Martha Graham Dance Company and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, in musical theater (including the original London production of Disney’s The Lion King), on television, and in a variety of other venues. He has worked as an independent artist and director of Cyrus Art Production LLC (2006-14) throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia as teacher, performer, and choreographer, and was also a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Illinois.
Cyrus consistently shares his knowledge and experience through his method for creating live performance called Accessing the Theatre of Movement. This technique explores the connectivity between the two disciplines of Dance and Theatre as a tool for developing awareness, clarity of communication, and physical “presence.” Cyrus’ keynote will bridge the presentation formats of performance, lecture, and workshop, and explore the constructions of aging in our culture in its relation to performance and representation. The workshop will be open to participants of all backgrounds and levels, as well as observers, and a presentation will follow in the theater.