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Anjali Austin

Department Chair

Professor

School of Dance

Ms. Austin serves as Professor and Chair of Florida State University’s School of Dance and teaches ballet and pointe, choreographs, and mentor’s undergraduate and graduate dance majors. A thirteen-year veteran of Dance Theatre of Harlem, she worked with Agnes de Mille, Louis Johnson, Alexandra Danilova, Glen Tetley, Valerie Bettis, Geoffrey Holder, Frederick Franklin, and others of this genre. Ballets performed include Billy the Kid, Swan Lake (Act II), Serenade, Flower Festival, Dougla, Concerto Barocco, Prince Igor, Paquita, and Frankie and Johnny. Film credits are PBS television specials Fall River Legend, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Creole Giselle.

Trained in Pilates, GYROKINESIS® and GYROTONIC® systems of exercise, Austin has worked with Kathleen S. Grant, Hilary Cartwright, and Juliu Horvath. Under Mr. Horvath, she completed her Gyrotonic teacher training, taught in the New York City studios, and was among the first group certified as Specialized Gyrotonic Master Trainers. She introduced Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis to School of Dance and received administrative support from FSU to purchase the entire suite of equipment for the program. Austin’s creative practice continues with the development of a solo performative work ‘Live Oak’, based on 33 quilts designed and created by her maternal grandmother — Mrs. Gussie Beatrice Arnold Hill, recently performed the solo, ‘Eyes Like Empty Ballrooms’ (choreographed by Dan Wagoner), and is working on a new piece titled Aeolian.

Professor Austin holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College, serves as immediate Past-President of CORPS de Ballet International, and conducts lectures on the history and legacy of Black classical ballet dancers.

Education

MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts, Goddard College

Teaching Areas

Ballet, Gyrokinesis, Gyrotonic

Research Areas

Ballet, Gyrokinesis, Gyrotonic

Additional Scholarly/Creative Works & Awards

Scholars Fellowship, The Center for Ballet and the Arts, Ney York, NY, 2017
Scholars Fellowship The Center for Ballet and the Arts New York University New York, NY. 2017

Scholarly & Creative Works

– Perspectives of An American Artist. Delivered at Dance Theatre of Harlem, New York, New York, 2017
-Katallasso [Ballet]. Nancy Smith-Ficther Theatre, Montgomery Hall, Tallahassee, Florida, 2017
 -Parabola [Ballet]. Evening of Dance Concert. Nancy Smith Fichter Theatre, School of Dance, Florida    State University, Tallahassee, Florida, 2014
 -Dorema [Ballet]. Tallahassee Ballet Company. Florida State University’s Opperman Music Hall.       Tallahassee. Florida, 2014
-THREADS [Performance Art]. Goddard College, Port Townsend, Washington, Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Tallahassee, Florida, 2014