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CC alum returns as professor of dance
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David Dorfman '81 |
When David Dorfman got his master of fine arts degree from Connecticut College in 1981, his goal was a career as a choreographer in New York.
The dream came true, the New York Times says in a Jan. 16 feature: Dorfman is the head of an acclaimed dance company, David Dorfman Dance, and is an inspired choreographer.
But as costs rise and resources dwindle, The Times reports, making a living as a choreographer has become difficult. Many of the best are taking academic posts to make ends meet, the newspaper said.
Among them is Dorfman. Last fall he joined the faculty at CC as an associate professor of dance. Dorfman still runs his dance company, but it is no longer his primary responsibility.
Wendy Perron, editor in chief of Dance magazine, is quoted as saying Dorfman and others who have relocated will foster more dance activity in the places where they go to teach.
The article says CC has “one of the country’s leading dance departments.” Dorfman tells The Times that an unexpected dividend of being at CC is the insight of faculty members into subjects relevant to his choreography.
“I want to do a piece for my company on terrorism, and I found a fellow professor who has been studying the phenomenon his entire career. It’s thrilling to be able to talk to someone like that,” Dorfman tells The Times .
The article quotes Frances Hoffmann, dean of the faculty, as saying CC tries to accommodate working artists.
“When we talked with David Dorfman last year” she said, “he made it clear he wanted to stay actively involved in the field. It’s what we want as well, in the same way we like our scientists to be actively involved in laboratory work.”
Dorfman’s dancers will be coming to New London this month to prepare for a June engagement at the Joyce Theater in Manhattan, according to The Times . They will stay at his house and rehearse in a CC studio.
Dorfman, a native of Chicago, has been honored with four fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, three New York Foundation for the Arts fellowships, an American Choreographer’s Award, the first Paul Taylor Fellowship from The Yard, and a 1996 New York Dance & Performance Award (“Bessie”).