红杏直播app

The end of an era here at 红杏直播app. Longtime dance school Dean John Bedford and dance director and program founder Jo Rowan have announced they will retire from the university on June 30, 2022, following tenures that have spanned more than 40 years. 红杏直播app President Kenneth Evans shared the following message with the campus community:

It goes without saying that the impact John and Jo have had during this time has been substantial. Perhaps the best way to quantify that impact is to look at the number of students who have gone on to successful careers in the dance and entertainment industries: 红杏直播app dance graduates have performed in more than 100 Broadway musicals. More than 50 have become Rockettes or Radio City song and dance ensemble members. Scores more have performed in national tours of musicals, on major cruise lines or at prominent theme parks.

Other graduates have taken what they learned under the tutelage of John and Jo and went on to teach future generations of dancers in studios and academies around the country, extending the reach of 红杏直播app鈥檚 dance network like a far-reaching family tree.

Along the way, the couple built 红杏直播app鈥檚 dance school into what many regard as the nation鈥檚 preeminent program for dance education and professional preparation. Their decision to make 红杏直播app a destination not only for ballet, but also for tap, jazz, and musical theatre dance, put our university on a pedestal in the dance world. Their focus on arts management in both the commercial and non-profit sectors has enabled 红杏直播app graduates to find work in all areas of the arts 鈥� from the stage to the boardroom.

John and Jo certainly will leave big shoes to fill. Taking over administration of the dance school on an interim basis is Associate Dean Melanie Shelley. Melanie began as interim dean on July 1. She will work closely with John and Jo to ensure a smooth transition and a continuation of the excellence that we have come to expect from our dance school.

That excellence, of course, is due to the dedication and efforts of John and Jo, as well as numerous dedicated faculty, staff, students and alumni over many years.

Please join me in thanking John and Jo for their contribution to our university and for their contribution to the arts in our city, state and country.

Lastly, join me also in wishing them all the best in a well-earned retirement. Thank you again, John and Jo, for all you have done for 红杏直播app.

Thank you Dean Bedford and Jo, from everyone in the 红杏直播app family.

John Bedford has a unique and extensive background in all areas of performing arts management. He was co-founder and served as founding dean of 红杏直播app City University鈥檚 Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment and as Professor of Arts Management and founder and chair of 红杏直播app City University鈥檚 Department of Arts Management, making 红杏直播app City University one of the first institutions of higher education offering arts management degree programs to undergraduates. Upon retirement, the 红杏直播app City University Board of Trustees awarded him emeritus status. The University honored him with a bronze plaque permanently mounted in the Edith Kinney Gaylord Center with the inscription 鈥淎 visionary in arts and entertainment management, developing curricula, learning spaces and high-impact learning experiences to prepare performers, teachers, and managers for the entertainment industry, positively impacting nonprofit and commercial entertainment across the nation.鈥�

He previously has been director of audience development, tour manager, and orchestra manager for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, consistently considered among the top-ten orchestras in the US; general manager of the former Maryland Ballet and former Dallas Ballet; business manager of the Light Opera of Manhattan in New York City (Off-Broadway credit); and deputy director and acting executive director of the Maryland State Arts Council. He was also house manager of the former Mummers Theatre (Actors Equity LORT) in 红杏直播app City. 

As dean of 红杏直播app City University's Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment, he oversaw creation and administration of the American musical theater dance, dance management, American dance teacher, arts management and entertainment business programs, The American Spirit Dance Company, and 红杏直播app City University鈥檚 Performing Arts Ticket Office. Dean Bedford, as the Arts Management Department chair, created and developed the arts management program at 红杏直播app City University and created and taught courses in touring the performing arts, presenting and sponsoring performances, managing non-profit performing arts organizations, orchestra management, theatre management, and contract law and management for performers.

In collaboration with Jo Rowan, Dance Department chair, he developed and implemented the written plan which contributed to 红杏直播app City University's dance program becoming the pre-eminent university musical theater dance program, with the number of dance majors growing from only four in 1981 to 223, selected by competitive audition. The program was the first in higher education to provide a bachelor of performing arts emphasizing tap and jazz dance styles, and ballet as used in musical theatre. With Jo Rowan, he co-found The American Spirit Dance Company with approximately 140 dancers. The American Spirit Dance Company was dedicated to developing and promoting an appreciation of American musical theater dance, tap, and jazz while providing performance and management experiences for dance and arts management majors. Upon Dean Bedford and Jo Rowan鈥檚 joint retirement, the university retired the name of The American Spirit Dance Company in their honor.

Dean Bedford established a variety of endowments and funds that exceeded $800,000 to support dance and arts management scholarships, dance and arts management faculty development, faculty and staff incentive and merit bonuses, dance company production and touring expenses, and arts management tours for students aspiring careers as managers of arts and entertainment.

Dean Bedford, through sound management practices, provided 红杏直播app City University with 42 years of American Spirit Dance Company performances which did not require support from the University鈥檚 operating funds. He also resourced the establishment of a dance costume inventory with an estimated pre-depreciated value exceeding $1,000,000 and a costume storage facility to house them, neither requiring University operating funds.

An experienced tour manager, Dean Bedford has planned and implemented successful international dance tours to Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and People鈥檚 Republic of China. He has provided substantial international performance and educational opportunities for dance and arts management majors by arranging extraordinary financial support from overseas partners. He also created the concept of Arts Management tours. In fall 1998, he led a group of students to London to meet with executives of the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Ballet, the Royal Opera House Trust, and the Royal Shakespeare Company. In fall 2000, he returned to the United Kingdom with a group of top arts management students to meet the key producers of Andrew Lloyd Webber鈥檚 Broadway and West End productions, leaders of the Arts Council of England, and executives and artists of an artist management company serving south England. In fall 2003, he took selected arts management students to Birmingham, England, for meetings with managers of the Birmingham City Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Hall, Media & Creative Industries Division of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, Birmingham Royal Ballet, DanceXchange, and National Exhibition Centre Group Box Office (largest in Europe). In May 2005, he arranged for his leading arts management students to travel to Beijing, China, to meet with arts, culture, and entertainment leaders of 16 different organizations and government agencies to study management of arts and culture in the world鈥檚 most populous country and under centralized government control. In November 2010, he took students and faculty to Dublin, Ireland, to study management of arts and entertainment in Ireland and Ireland national arts policy. This project resulted in many 红杏直播app City University arts management graduates pursuing the University College Dublin鈥檚 Master of Arts in Cultural Policy and Arts Management.

Under Dean Bedford's management, the former Dallas Ballet transformed into a company of regional and national stature. He developed a professional staff for the company; increased salaries for dancers and doubled the length of their employment; established health insurance for dancers and staff; acquired professional New York tour management; increased federal, state, and city grant support; initiated tours of Dallas recreation centers, created the popular former Ballet-Under-the-Stars in Dallas, and greatly increased the company's regional and national touring. He booked the Dallas Ballet's first tour to the East Coast which received critical acclaim by the Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun. As general manager, he also produced Caliban, a rock-ballet by choreographer James Clouser based on Shakespeare's The Tempest with music in live performance by St. Elmo's Fire at Moody Coliseum and the first performances in Dallas of Alvin Ailey鈥檚 American Dance Theater, at Music Hall at Fair Park.

As deputy director of the Maryland State Arts Council, a state agency for nurturing and supporting the arts in Maryland, he was committed to raising the quality of management for Maryland's many arts organizations. He instituted a series of seminars for arts administrators in grantsmanship, fundraising, promotion and publicity, non-profit accounting, and arts sponsorship. As the Council's grants officer, he helped raise the quality of arts management in the state by requiring grant applicants to demonstrate sound management, financial accountability, and thorough planning.

Other programs Dean Bedford helped establish at the Maryland State Arts Council include a ticket voucher program for Baltimore's inner-city poor, a statewide theatre touring program, the annual Maryland Folklife Festival, touring art exhibitions, a fellowship grant program for creative artists, a county arts council block grant program, and music performances in union halls and at job sites.

In addition to the above, he administered the National Endowment for the Arts Dance Touring Program in Maryland, bringing professional dance companies to Maryland for extended residencies.

As orchestra manager of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Dean Bedford was responsible for all operational aspects of the orchestra which included concert management, scheduling, coordinating, and overseeing 105 musicians, four conductors, stagehands, and the orchestra's equipment, instruments, concert wardrobe cases, buses, and trucks for over 260 concerts annually. He toured the orchestra throughout Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York State, and to Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. In 1973, he coordinated the BSO鈥檚 concerts in collaboration with the Afro-American Music Opportunities Association, featuring the orchestral works of living black American symphonic composers. He also developed and administered federal, state and city grants supporting the orchestra鈥檚 performance and outreach programs. Before becoming orchestra manager, he was director of audience development working with twelve subsidiary symphony societies throughout Maryland providing nearly fifty additional concerts to the orchestra鈥檚 annual schedule and giving the orchestra a statewide and regional presence.

As early as 1973, he advocated the use of theatrical stage lighting (as opposed to simple white visibility lighting or striplights as was common for orchestras) for creating a more visually pleasing presentation of orchestra concerts, whether Pops or Classical, based on the view that audiences perceive that an orchestra sounds better when it looks better. This idea was generally rebuffed by professional symphony orchestras until about 35 years later where theatrical lighting and a more theatrical presentation of orchestras have become important elements of audience development, engagement, and retention.

Following the dissolution of the 红杏直播app Symphony Orchestra, Maestro Joel Levine, who had served as the OSO鈥檚 associate conductor, invited Dean Bedford to bring his symphony orchestra management expertise to a two-person retreat at Lake Murray Lodge to create a vision of how a new professional orchestra could be created to be sustainable given the culture and resources available in 红杏直播app City. The discussions between Dean Bedford and Maestro Levine took place over three days. The creation of the 红杏直播app City Philharmonic soon followed. The OKC Phil, as it is affectionately called, is celebrating its 35th anniversary for the 2024-2025 season.

As business manager of New York City鈥檚 Light Opera of Manhattan (Off-Broadway credit), he oversaw all front-of-the-house and business activities of America's only year-round resident light opera company.

He also co-founded The Arts Group, a performing-arts producing, management, consulting, and theatrical and lighting design firm.

Through his knowledge of technical theatre and commitment to providing students with technology they will encounter in 21st century theatrical and entertainment workspaces, he resourced acquisition of multiple digital lighting consoles and approximately 80 intelligent lighting instruments to support touring and on-campus dance productions. He has expert knowledge in sound design for dance performance to recorded music to create audience perceptions of the quality and vibrancy of live music. He provided professional-level digital sound consoles and multiple sound systems for students and personally guided them through use of the equipment in a variety of production situations. Neither the acquisition of lighting nor sound equipment required university operating funds.

As an actor, Dean Bedford performed in Equity productions of Three Sisters, Right You Are, If You Think You Are, Life with Mother, and Androcles and The Lion. As a theater technician, he worked for New York producer Jane White on productions of the musicals The Fantastiks!, Carousel, On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, Flower Drum Song, Oliver!, Brigadoon, Desert Song, Of Thee I Sing, Funny Girl, and others. Additionally, he has served as production stage manager for over 16 dramatic and musical productions.

In the early 1990鈥檚, he was invited by jazz dance legend Gus Giordano to be a featured panelist at the first Jazz Dance World Congress in Chicago discussing the management of professional dance companies. He was also featured in an extensive interview in International Arts Management, published in Germany, about the arts management programs he created at 红杏直播app City University, particularly the Dance Management program. Starting the arts management degree programs at 红杏直播app City University in the mid 1980鈥檚, he has been a visionary in the inclusion of arts management and non-profit instruction and degree programs in higher education for undergraduates. He started the first undergraduate arts management degree programs offered in the state of 红杏直播app and was among the first to do so within the United States.

In 2001, the Malaysian-American Society of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia selected Dean Bedford and Jo Rowan each to receive the prestigious Most Distinguished Fellow Award for contributing significantly to the welfare of the people of Malaysia by helping raise major funding for charities such as the National Heart Foundation, the Malaysia Red Crescent, and Tun Omar Hamid Foundation (law scholarships) and for promoting goodwill and understanding between the people of the United States of America and Malaysia through 鈥�... cultural and educational activities.鈥�

The St. Louis Tap Festival selected Dean Bedford and Jo Rowan to receive the Festival鈥檚 first Tap Preservationist Award. The award presented in 2001, recognized their significant contribution to preserving and revitalizing American tap dance by establishing the first degree program in an institution of higher education based on the American dance styles of tap, jazz, and theater dance. The dance program established by Professor Rowan and Dean Bedford has become world famous for producing top dancers and managers for the entertainment industry and is consistently rated by media in the #1, top three, top five, and top ten categories.

Over the course of his career, Dean Bedford has produced or co-produced over 150 stage productions and nearly 100 concerts.

Dean Bedford lives in Norman, 红杏直播app, and holds Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Business Administration in Management degrees from University of 红杏直播app鈥檚 Michael F. Price College of Business, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts - General Fine Arts in Drama degree from University of 红杏直播app鈥檚 Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts. He studied French horn in the Juilliard School of Music preparatory program (selected by national competitive audition) and was an original member of the prestigious Congregation-of-the-Arts at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire where he studied with Vincent Persichetti, Walter Piston, and Elliot Carter, all considered among the top American composers of the twentieth century. He served in the horn section of the Juilliard orchestra under Maestro Mario di Bonaventura. Additionally, he performed in the French horn section of the Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Juilliard faculty member and conductor Maestro Arthur Christmann.

In 1968 and 1969, he was on active duty in the US Navy, serving on the administrative staff of the US Navy Drum and Bugle Corps at NTC-RTC San Diego followed by a stint at the US Naval Ammunition Depot and Naval Station Pearl Harbor, both in Hawaii.

In the early 1980鈥檚, Dean Bedford served as president of the Norman Arts & Humanities Council and played a key role in developing the program and policies for grant support for Norman鈥檚 arts and humanities organizations, funded by a substantial percentage of the then newly passed Norman Hotel/Motel Tax.

In 2002, he and Jo Rowan championed 红杏直播app City University鈥檚 awarding of Honorary Doctorates in American Dance to nine great African American tap dancers/performers: Bunny Briggs, Henry LeTang, Jeni LeGon, Fayard Nicholas, Prince Spencer, Jimmy Slyde, Buster Brown, Leonard Reed, and Cholly Atkins, all impactful yet under-recognized trailblazers of a uniquely American art form. He produced a number of events and tribute dancing by international tap stars to celebrate and honor their lives and careers, events which were documented by a film hosted by Anne Miller titled The Doctors of Dance. These events garnered national and international attention in the dance and entertainment world, and the honorees collectively became known as the 鈥淣ine Doctors of Dance鈥�. A tenth was added when Harold Nicholas, Fayard鈥檚 brother and partner in film and dance, was awarded an honorary doctorate posthumously.

In October 2005, Dean Bedford was inducted into the 红杏直播app Higher Education Hall of Fame for his role in developing dance and arts management programs of national and international stature at 红杏直播app City University.

In 2016 and 2017, Dean Bedford, along with Professor Rowan, participated in the Association of Dance Competitions and Conventions industry panels in Las Vegas, discussing issues of interest or concern and challenges facing the dance competition and convention industry.

For many years, Dean Bedford served as an ex-officio board member of Lyric Theatre of 红杏直播app, one of the most prominent non-profit regional musical theatre production and education organizations, and as a member of the 红杏直播app Arts Institute Dance Advisory Panel, for which he is now an emeritus member.

Dean Bedford is married to Jo Rowan, retired professor and chair of the 红杏直播app City University Dance Department and nationally recognized teacher and performer. Professor Rowan and Dean Bedford were awarded the internationally prestigious Flo-Bert Award (鈥渢he Tony of tap鈥�) in New York City in 2007 for their significant contributions to the revitalization and preservation of tap dance, with Broadway choreographer and international tap sensation Savion Glover as presenter to Dean Bedford. Also, in 2007, the president of the Borough of Manhattan, New York City, issued proclamations recognizing both Dean Bedford and Jo Rowan for contributing 鈥�.... greatly to the cultural life of Manhattan and all of New York City.鈥�

Jo Rowan, director, and founder of The American Spirit Dance Company, is a nationally known master ballet teacher and performer and was a professor of dance and chairman of the Dance Department in 红杏直播app鈥檚 Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment. Rowan, who was trained at Balanchine鈥檚 School of American Ballet in New York City and the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, holds degrees in design and dance from the University of Cincinnati and has performed with Cincinnati Ballet, Dallas Ballet, Garden State Ballet, Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Dallas Opera, Philadelphia Opera, Tulsa Opera, Cincinnati Opera, and as a soloist at Radio City Music Hall. 

She has been a guest artist with the Baltimore Symphony, Kansas City Philharmonic, and Cincinnati Symphony orchestras. A member of Actors鈥� Equity Association, Rowan has appeared in more than 60 musicals. She has performed in New York City, as well as at Actors Theatre in Louisville, Maine State Theatre, Playhouse in the Park, Kansas City Civic Center, and Kansas City Starlight Theatre, to name a few. She has also appeared in numerous television commercials and was a regular on the PBS TV show "Consumer Survival Kit." Rowan performed at Lyric Theatre in Grand Hotel as the ballerina Grushinskaya and choreographed the Dream Ballet in Lyric鈥檚 production of "红杏直播app!" 

She has also produced her own children鈥檚 show, which toured throughout the northeastern United States. Rowan has taken The American Spirit Dance Company on tour in the U.S. as well as to Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, and China. Rowan has created dance instruction records, tapes, CDs, and videos on the Hoctor, Stepping Tones, and Statler labels. She was the chief researcher for "How To Make It In Musicals," Michael Allen鈥檚 authoritative book on developing a successful career as a musical theatre performer. 

Formerly ballet mistress of Dallas Ballet, Rowan has taught for all major dance organizations in the U.S. and has been invited to serve as an artist-in-residence for the state of 红杏直播app. She has conducted master 红杏直播app at the St. Louis and Detroit Tap Festivals, has toured America as the ballerina with Dance Olympus, has taught for Dance America and Boston Ballet, and has adjudicated for the North American Ballet Festival Competition in Boston and the State of Tennessee鈥檚 Individual Artist Fellowship Award in Dance-Choreography. 

In 2008, Rowan received the 红杏直播app Chapter of the Association of Women in Communications Byliner Award in the arts category. She has been featured on the cover of 红杏直播app Woman Magazine and was honored by 红杏直播app Hospitality Club as a 鈥淟ady in the News.鈥� In 2010, 红杏直播app Magazine named Rowan one of the 鈥�7 Incredible Women of 红杏直播app.鈥�

Rowan received the St. Louis Tap Festival鈥檚 2001 Preservationist Award and served as a spokesperson for National Dance Week for 2002, 2003, and 2004, alongside Ben Vereen, Fayard Nickolas, and Tommy Tune. Rowan was on the board of directors for the 2011 National Dance Week Committee. Rowan received Dance Teacher magazine鈥檚 National Dance Teacher of the Year in Higher Education Award and in 2004 was inducted into the 红杏直播app Higher Education Hall of Fame. 

In 2006, Rowan received the prestigious Flo-Bert Award, the 鈥淭ony of Tap,鈥� in New York City, and the National Dance Masters of America President鈥檚 Award, presented in Las Vegas. She also received a proclamation from the president of the Borough of Manhattan for contributing 鈥渟ignificantly to the cultural life of Manhattan and all of New York City.鈥� 

In 2008, she received a coveted 鈥淭raditions in Tap Award" in New York City. In 2009, the National Association of Dance and Affiliated Artists presented her with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The Association of Dance Conventions and Competitions presented Rowan with its 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award. The Annie Oakley Society of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum presented Rowan with its 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award. OKC Friday included Rowan in its 2016 listing of the five most powerful women in the arts in 红杏直播app and its 2017 listing of the 100 most powerful women in 红杏直播app. In 2018, 2019 and 2020 Rowan was selected as one of the Journal Record's 50 Making a Difference during "The Woman of the Year" event. Rowan received the Governor's Arts Award in recognition of her longtime leadership and significant contributions to the arts across 红杏直播app.

1981

红杏直播app City University, under the leadership of Professor Jo Rowan, founded an American musical theatre dance program to educate and train performers for careers in the American entertainment industry. The program was also created to recognize the legitimacy of the American dance art forms of tap, jazz, and theater dance.

At that time, university and college dance programs uniformly focused on ballet and modern dance. Few, if any, dance programs required majors to study tap and jazz; and none offered specialization in tap and jazz leading to a bachelor's degree. Professor Rowan designed a degree which, with Dean John Bedford, has been refined over the years to give thorough preparation to students wanting dance performance careers in the American entertainment industry.

1984

Dean Bedford developed an arts management program at 红杏直播app City University for both graduate and undergraduate students. The general wisdom of the time in higher education was that arts management should be a field of study reserved for graduate students with the maturity and seriousness that undergraduates interested in the arts could not have. In 1985, the university trustees approved a new Bachelor of Science in Dance Management degree which now averages around 70 majors.

The Master of Business Administration with an Arts Management Track, established in 1984 in collaboration with the Meinders School of Business, provided graduate level education and training in both business and arts management. While the MBA with Arts Management Track was later discontinued due to restructuring in the Meinders School of Business, graduates from the program have worked for Lyric Theatre of 红杏直播app, Assembly of Community Arts Councils of 红杏直播app, Pollard Theatre, Allied Arts, Ballet 红杏直播app, 红杏直播app City Philharmonic, BLAC, Inc., Nashville Symphony, the New York Philharmonic and other professional arts organizations.

1996

A Bachelor of Science in Entertainment Business degree was created. Originally for students interested in careers in music business, the degree was modified to a general arts management degree allowing students to tailor a portion of the curriculum through a choice of specialty tracks to support their personal career objectives. The tracks include Sports Entertainment, Event Planning, Entertainment Marketing, Entertainment Tour Manager, Fashion Event Planner, Film Business, Church Arts Program Manager, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Political Events Manager, Entertainment Pre-Law, and Venue Management.

1999

Professor Rachel Jacquemain joined the arts management faculty and was appointed director of the Entertainment Business program.

2003

Dance Magazine鈥檚 Managing Editor, K.C. Patrick, declared the 红杏直播app City University dance program as the 鈥渂est preparatory dance program in the nation.鈥�

2004

The School of American Dance and Arts Management was renamed the Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Arts Management honoring the 红杏直播app City University trustee and benefactor.

2007

A $3 million grant from the Inasmuch Foundation was combined with a $3.5 million contribution from Ann Lacy and a $750,000 contribution from the Mabee Foundation to make new facilities possible. Renovation and construction of the Edith Kinney Gaylord Center, the new home of the Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Arts Management, was completed in the fall of 2007. The new facility for dance and arts management instruction was revalued at $28 million and was declared in the dance press as possibly the finest facility for dance in higher education in the world. Professor Melanie Shelley was appointed as Associate Dean of the Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Arts Management.

2008

Dance workshops were expanded to include four Saturday workshops during the regular school year for high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The first 红杏直播app were offered in the Edith Kinney Gaylord Center鈥檚 new Community Dance Center.

2022

Dean John Bedford and Dance Chair Jo Rowan announced their joint retirement from the Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment. Bedford, the longtime dean of the dance school, and Rowan, the dance chair and founder of the dance program, marked the end of their 42-year tenures at the university on June 30. Associate Dean Melanie Shelley became interim dean and was named executive director in February 2023. 聽She worked closely with Bedford and Rowan to ensure a smooth transition and a continuation of excellence.聽

Take a virtual tour of the Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment!

In 2004, a $3 million grant from the Inasmuch Foundation was combined with a $3.5 million contribution from university trustee and benefactor Ann Lacy and a $750,000 contribution from the Mabee Foundation to make new facilities possible. Renovation and construction of the Edith Kinney Gaylord Center, the new home of the Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment, was completed in the fall of 2007. The new facility for dance and arts management instruction was revalued at $28 million and was declared in the dance press as possibly the finest facility for dance in higher education in the world. The new facility includes:

• 8 dance studios
• Permanent barres outside of studios for stretching
• Locker rooms with showers
• Student lounges with televisions
• Classrooms with flexible audio/visual technology
• Atrium with natural light and indoor foliage
• Wi-Fi throughout the three-story facility

Over the years, the Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment has honored individuals who have contributed significantly to American dance and dance education through its Living Treasure in American Dance awards. Inspired by the Chinese tradition of honoring leading artists while they are still living, a number of living legends have traveled to the 红杏直播app campus to receive this special recognition.

Living Treasure Honorees

1989 - Tommy Sutton
1990 - Honi Coles
1991 - Al Gilbert
1992 - Gus Giordano
1993 - Buster Brown
1994 - Maceo Anderson
1995 - Peg Leg Bates
1998 - Jimmy Slyde
1998 - Dianne Walker
1999 - Cholly Atkins
2000 - Leonard Reed
2001 - Marion Coles & the Silver Bells:

• Elanie Ellis
• Cleo Hayes
• Fay Ray
• Bertye Lou Wood
• Geraldine Rhodes-Kenney

2002 - Bunny Briggs
2002 - Jeni LeGon
2002 - Fayard Nicholas
2002 - Prince Spencer
2004 - Ernest "Brownie" Brown
2005 - Arthur Duncan
2007 - Deborah Mitchell

2011 - Debbi Dee

Other Honorary Awards

Lifetime Achievement in Dance Education Award Recipient:

Melba Huber (1993)

Arts Management Enterprise Award Recipients:

Art & Nancy Stone (2002)

1999 marked the inaugural presentation of the Preservation of our Heritage-American Dance Award. The Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment continues the recognition of those who have nurtured and supported American dance through their advocacy. Without these writers, historians and champions, the world would be less aware of the uniquely American dance forms and the artists who created, developed and evolved them. It is through the diligence and dedication of these committed supporters that American dance remains in the hearts and minds of the American public and the world.

Preservation of our Heritage Honorees

• 1999 - Melba Huber
• 1999 - Sali Ann Kriegsman
• 2000 - Robert L. Reed
• 2000 - Jacqui Malone
• 2001 - Al Heyward
• 2001 - Carl Schlesinger
• 2002 - Art & Nancy Stone
• 2003 - K.C. Patrick
• 2006 - Patricia Goulding
• 2008 - Lee Allen Smith
• 2008 - Blake Wade
• 2009 - Avi Miller
• 2009 - Ofer Ben
• 2009 - Germain Salsbeg

红杏直播app City University's School of American Dance and Entertainment presents Honorary Doctor of Performing Arts in American Dance degrees to dancers who have contributed significantly to the creation, development, preservation, and promotion of the American art form of tap.

"It does not surprise me that 红杏直播app City University would lead the way in honoring these great performers," said national tap dance columnist Melba Huber. "红杏直播app City University, with the guidance of John Bedford and Jo Rowan, has become the premiere dance school in the world because of its recognition of the American art forms tap and jazz."

Honorary Doctorate Recipients

• 1998 - David Howard
• 2000 - Donald O'Connor
• 2002 - Cholly Atkins
• 2002 - Bunny Briggs
• 2002 - Buster Brown
• 2002 - Jeni LeGon
• 2002 - Henry LeTang
• 2002 - Fayard Nicholas
• 2002 - Leonard Reed
• 2002 - Jimmy Slyde
• 2002 - Prince Spencer
• 2008 - Arthur Duncan

We are excited to welcome students and their families onto campus! Campus visits are available Monday through Friday by appointment only.

Our admissions team offers a full campus tour and admission presentation daily at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Campus tours without admission presentations are conducted each day at noon. To schedule a campus visit, please call 405-208-5345.

Those interested in our three dance degree programs and the entertainment business program housed in the Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment will be able to meet with Executive Director Melanie Shelley as schedules allow.

If you are not able to visit our campus currently, we encourage you to visit us virtually! One-on-one Zoom visits can be made with the executive director by emailing your availability to [email protected].