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Professor wins high-profile dance competition

Oct. 23, 2008

KALAMAZOO--Western Michigan University's Carolyn Pavlik, assistant professor of dance, won the prestigious Maggie Allesee New Choreography Award for her dance "Nothing was left but white fragments." 

The dance was performed by senior dance majors Tercell Waters and Lonnie Poupard, Jr. in the annual competition hosted by the Michigan Dance Council.

"Nothing was left but white fragments" portrays the dual nature of relationships and how the push and pull presents itself in conversation and discussion to determine what remains when all is said. The work was influenced by collaborations with Yacov Sharir and was danced to the musical selection Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven.

Pavlik has been a member of the WMU dance faculty since 2004. She earned her master's in dance from the University of Washington in Seattle and her bachelor's in dance from the University of Texas in Austin. She performed and toured nationally and internationally with the Austin-based Sharir + Bustamante Danceworks for 13 years.

As a freelance artist, Ms. Pavlik collaborated with many Austin artists, including Kathy Dunn Hammrick, Margery Seagal and site-specific dance choreographer Sally Jacques, as well as Seattle-based artist Llory Wilson and San Francisco-based artist Kathleen Hermesdorf. She recently produced, choreographed and performed in her dance for the camera works Rack3 and Genderations. Her concert choreographic works have been presented in Austin, Seattle and New York.

Media contact: Mark Schwerin, (269) 387-8400, mark.schwerin@wmich.edu

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