Faculty
The dance faculty is comprised of four full-time faculty members and adjunct associates. The faculty consists of both nationally and internationally distinguished teachers, choreographers and performers. Each member of the faculty is a specialist in his or her own field. Visiting artists throughout the year make additional contributions to the program.
Kim Neal Nofsinger
Professor and Director of Dance
Artistic Director, Middle Tennessee Dance Theatre
Kim Neal Nofsinger is the Artistic Director of Shelter Repertory Dance Theatre, which he founded in 2001. His choreography has been produced throughout the United States and abroad in Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, and Austria. In 2003, his evening's length work, "A Pure White Room," was selected as the Critics' Choice for Best Dance Production from a field of over 120 works at the Minnesota Fringe Festival and in 1999, his duet "Permission" was selected by the American Dance Guild as one of the outstanding works produced in the United States that year. Prior teaching appointments include Ohio University, University of Minnesota-Duluth, State University of New York-Geneseo, Illinois State University, Winona State University, and Connecticut College. In addition to directing the Dance Program at MTSU, Nofsinger is the artistic director of the MTSU Dance Theatre. He is also a dance instructor at the prestigious Interlochen Arts Camp at Interlochen Center for the Arts, MI. Nofsinger has a MFA in Performance and Choreography from Arizona State University where he holds the distinction of being the first graduate student to receive a grant from the Institute for Arts and Technology.
Marsha Barsky
Assistant Professor of Dance
Marsha Barsky has worked both nationally and internationally as a performer, choreographer and administrator. Her choreography has been presented at venues throughout the US, and at the Pavillon Noir in Aix-en-Provence, France. She has performed with the Desert Dance Theatre, Contemporary Dance Exchange and Shelter Repertory Dance Theatre, and in works by Kim Neal Nofsinger, Gabriel Masson, Sean Curran, Pat Graney, Bill Evans, Ana Baer, and Ivan Pulinkala. She received her BFA in Dance from Arizona State University and her MFA in Performance, Choreography and Somatics from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She has taught dance history at Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music and modern dance technique at the University of Colorado, Western Kentucky University, Vanderbilt Dance Program, and the Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts. She served as the Director for the Vanderbilt Dance Program from 2003 - 2007 where she divided her time between teaching and administration. She is the Artistic Director for Company Rose, a Nashville based contemporary dance company, and is a certified yoga instorustor and a Certified Teacher of the Alexander Technique (www.marshabarsky.com).
Madia Cooper
Assistant Professor of Dance
Madia Cooper holds a Master of Fine Arts of dance performance and choreography from The College at Brockport and a Dance Education degree from Brenau University. Cooper's company credits include the Brenau Dance Ensemble, Gainesville Theater Alliance, Sankofa African Dance Ensemble, and the Bill Evans Dance Company. She has coordinated and choreographed dance productions throughout the state of Georgia and Batavia/Rochester, New York. She teaches a variety of dance disciplines that include modern, afro-modern, West African, composition, jazz, and dance history. She was the dance director and educator at Meadowcreek High School for three years. Her time there, she assisted in devising curriculums for dance educators and implementing state and national dance standards in classrooms all across her school's county. Also, she has taught throughout the Atlanta area at local dance studios and academies such as The Atlanta Ballet Centre of Dance Education, The Dancers' Studio, Triple 7 Dance/777 Dance, and the Gainesville Ballet Summer Intensive Residency. In addition to teaching, she has had the opportunity to perform works of Donald McKayle, Cleo Parker Robinson, Dianne McIntyre, Chet Walker, Darwin Prioleau, Habib Iddrisu, Bill Evans, Larry Keigwin, Telly Fowler, and Sherry Zunker. She is currently the assistant director of administration for the New York Summer School of the Arts in conjunction with the New York State Board of Education held at Skidmore College.
Jenna Kosowski
Assistant Professor of Dance
Jenna Kosowski has worked as a performer, choreographer, educator and artist throughout the United States and most recently, China. Prior to joining the faculty of MTSU in the Fall of 2011, Jenna taught and choreographed for Arizona State University (ASU), Glendale Community College, and Missouri Valley College. Throughout her career she has performed with Mary Fitzgerald Dance, CONDER/dance, and the Rochester City Ballet. She has worked with a variety of choreographers, including Gerard Ebitz, Cherylyn Lavagnino, Shouze Ma, Stephanie Nugent, and Jennifer Tsukayama. She earned an undergraduate degree in Studio Art and Dance at New York University. Jenna completed her MFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from ASU in 2008. In addition to her dance interests, Jenna continues to make art and enjoys fusing the two fields whenever possible (www.jennakosowski.com). Her dance/art collaborations have been shown at ASU and the University of Oregon. Most recently, Jenna's choreography was performed throughout China (May 2012), and she also had the pleasure of teaching at the Beijing Dance Festival (July 2012).
ADJUNCT FACULTY MEMBERS
Kelvin Amburgey, originally from SE Kentucky, has worked as a performer, choreographer, director, and teacher throughout the United States. He has appeared on stage as a dancer, actor and singer in many stage productions as well as TV appearances on CMT and One Tree Hill. Kelvin spent several years dancing with Tennessee Dance Theatre, a modern dance company based in Nashville, Tennessee. He has choreographed for the Philadelphia Opera Theatre, Oak Ridge Playhouse, Unto These Hills, Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, Circle Players as well as other theaters, pageants, and organizations. Kelvin is currently the Director of Dance at Vanderbilt University and dance instructor, where he teaches classes in modern, jazz, improvisation and musical theatre. He has taught within several universities and colleges including The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Murray State University, Columbia State Community College, and Cumberland University as well as various studios and Programs such as Wolftrap: Early learning through the Arts and The Nashville Institute of the Arts. He is Founder and Artistic Director of Shards Dance Project a modern dance company. Kelvin received his undergraduate degree in Theatre from Morehead State University and his Master of Fine Arts Degree in Dance and Choreography from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Kate Kastelnik has been a professional performer for more than eleven years. She received early training with Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and Kathleen Magyar before pursuing a Bachelor's Degree from Point Park University's Conservatory of Performing Arts. In 1996 she studied and performed with Laura Alonso's Centro Pro Danza in Havana, Cuba. Upon completing her B.A. in 1999, she joined the Nashville Ballet where she danced for ten years. She performed in various notable works by George Balanchine, Frederick Ashton, James Canfield, Stephen Mills, and Salvatore Aiello,as well as world premieres by Paul Vasterling, Julia Adam, and Heather Maloy. She was featured in many classical soloist roles in Swan Lake, Giselle, and The Sleeping Beauty. In addition to Nashville Ballet, Kate has performed with Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance in Asheville, NC and is a founding company member of Nashville in Motion. In addition to joining the faculty of MTSU this fall, Ms. Kastelnik is currently an instructor at Franklin School of Performing Arts, Classic Steps School of Children's Ballet, and The Dance Force of Clarksville.
Erin Rehberg is Founder and Executive Director of Core Project, a movement-based, interdisciplinary performing arts collective in Chicago. In 2001, she became a founding member of and rehearsal mistress for Kim Nofsinger's Shelter Dance Repertoire in Duluth, MN. Erin teaches and fuses Jazz, Ballet, Modern and Hip Hop dance styles and has set work on dancers attending WIU, University of Minnesota-Duluth, Southern Illinois Dance Center and Prep Dance School and in schools all over the Chicago area including the Beverly Arts Center, where she directed the Summer Arts Experience-interdisciplinary arts camp. She helped found Suite 132Dance Company as the company manager and choreographed three premiere works on its dancers. She has been a Guest Dancer for Jay-Son Dance Company and has performed with Nicole Gifford Dance, Jennifer Sandoval and others. Her choreography has been seen in Dance Chicago, Art Exposium and Manifest Urban Arts Festival among others and she has produced site-specific work throughout the Chicago area. Erin earned her MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts and Media at Columbia College Chicago in 2009.
2011 Middle Tennessee State University, a Tennessee Board of Regents institution 1301 East Main Street, Murfreesboro, TN 37132-0001 USA +1.615.898.2300
Middle Tennessee State University, in its educational programs and activities involving students and employees, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, or age. Furthermore, the university does not discriminate against veterans or individuals with disabilities.
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