Susan Gingrasso

Susan Gingrasso, Professor of Dance, joined the UWSP faculty in 1974. For the past 32 years she has taught modern dance, improvisation, dance history, movement theory, and dance pedagogy. Susan earned an MA in Dance at UCLA, a certificate in Laban Movement Analysis, and has completed the second stage of the Language of Dance� certification course work under Tina Curran.

Susan led the development of the dance major degree program beginning in 1978 and served as the program coordinator from 1983 to May 2003. In 1984, she guided the Theatre & Dance Department through the National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD) and the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST) accreditation process. Because of Susan’s efforts, the Dance program has been accredited since 1985. She was instrumental in devising and developing the Afterimages concert for student choreographers and designers (1986), and the program’s involvement in the American College Dance Festival Association’s (ACDFA) regional events. Since 1984, when UWSP sent its first student choreography entries to ACDFA, our students’ work has been selected for the regional gala concerts at most festivals and, on three occasions, has been selected for presentation at the national festival at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington DC.

With the Department of Theatre and Dance’s involvement, Susan has mentored students presenting original research in both theatre and dance at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) and, in 2005, Susan guided a team of three students in their research presentation at the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) in Buffalo, NY. Susan has also been advisor for Players, the Department of Theatre & dance’s student production and social organization.
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sgingras@uwsp.edu