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Rodger Belman Fund in Dance (F07961)

Published March 14, 2021

Rodger Belman

Rodger Belman, Assistant Professor of Dance and Choreography since 2013, passed away in October of 2017 after a courageous battle with cancer. FSU’s College of Fine Arts was deeply enriched by Rodger’s dedication and commitment to his work and to his students.

To celebrate Rodger’s life and to continue to share his love and passion with others, Rodger’s family, friends and colleagues established an endowment to support students in the School of Dance. The principal of an endowed fund is never spent. Instead, the principal is invested, and the earnings are used to fulfill the purpose(s) for which the fund was created.

The Rodger Belman Fund in Dance supports the activities of FSU Dance faculty and students engaged in dance making practice that embraces collaboration, non-traditional spaces, and/or working across disciplines within the community.

 

About Rodger Belman

After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in French from George Mason University and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Dance from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Rodger began to teach and perform around the world. These travels took him to China, Korea, and the UK before he returned to the United States. Upon returning, Rodger conducted dance instruction and choreography at the University of Mary Washington, George Mason University, University of North Carolina Greensboro, the University of Georgia, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, and the Milwaukee Ballet. Rodger danced with Laura Dean Dancers and Musicians in New York. He also performed with the dance companies of Twyla Tharp, Rachel Lampert, Mark Taylor, Joy Kellman, and Kristin Jackson. He was also a faculty member of American Dance Festival (ADF) and spent six years as a dance educator for the New York Board of Education.

Prior to teaching at FSU, he was a professor at East Carolina University, Hollins University, and Long Island University. His choreography has been presented in venues all across the United States.

Maximo Oliviera performs in Rodger Belman’s “Time & Tides”

The latest and last movement of Rodger Belman’s work was performed at the Museum on October 20, 2017, a performance that was his vision in relationship to Trevor Bell’s painting Southern Light, which is a chromatic installation of 125 feet of brilliant color. Dancers also performed before Bell’s “Stills” series of tonal gradients and other works from his gestural canvases evoking wind and landscapes of India, Cornwall, and the night launches at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Believing that the exhibition offered “a fertile, rich ground for kids to see the connections between one art discipline and another,” the FSU Museum of Fine Arts constructed a program to help elementary and middle school students throughout our community better understand both abstract art and creative movement. Learn more about the impact HERE.

View more photos from the performance HERE.


Make a Donation 

To make a gift online to this fund, please click the Give button, choose “More College/Unit Designations” and type in the fund name. Please mail checks, made payable to “FSU Foundation” with the fund number (F08537) noted to the address below.

To discuss a gift to the College of Fine Arts at Florida State University, please contact:

Jessica Comas
Director of Development
FSU College of Fine Arts
236 Fine Arts Building
Tallahassee, FL 32306-1170
(850) 645-0701
jcomas@fsu.edu