Freeing the Power of the Individual

Erin LeighErin Leigh

Assistant Professor of Dance

B.A., Lake Erie College
M.F.A., University of North Carolina at Greensboro

E-mail: erin.leigh@usm.edu

 

Originally from Painesville, Ohio, Erin Leigh received her B.A. in Liberal Studies from Lake Erie College and her M.F.A in Choreography from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

For more than a decade she was both a dancer and dance educator as a member of the Dance Theater Collective in northeastern Ohio. During this time she performed in works choreographed by Clair Porter, David Dorfman, Amie Dowling, Jennifer Kellor, and Mark Taylor. Her teaching credits include the Governor’s School of Virginia, UNC Greensboro, Lakeland Community College, Walter Williams High School, the Hershey Montessori School in addition to numerous school residencies and community programs.

Beyond the classroom, she served as an advisor for the State of Ohio Standards for Dance Education assisting in writing standards, developing benchmarks, and presenting teacher training workshops in dance education through Franciscan University of Steubenville, the Hershey Montessori Farm School, Louis Agassiz Elementary School, and Young Audiences of Greater Cleveland. Her work has been presented at the Greensboro Dance Festival, UNCG, ACDFA, Lakeland Community College, and Food for Thought in Cleveland, Ohio.

At the University of Southern Mississippi, Leigh teaches contemporary dance technique, improvisation, dance appreciation, and choreographs for the Southern Miss Repertory Dance Company. Her contemporary dance classes blend an eclectic range of release techniques within a somatically-sound methodology and are significantly influenced by Bartenieff Fundamentals and Contact Improvisation.

In addition, Leigh works closely with colleague Julie Hammond teaching dance education curriculum and mentoring student teachers. Her focus in dance education has been the development of interdisciplinary dance curriculum and the application of community dance practices in the K-12 classroom. Leigh is pleased to be teaching at Southern Miss, which she sees as fertile ground for the development of future dance artists and educators.

 

Department of Theatre and Dance
http://www.usm.edu/theatre
601.266.4994 (Theatre) • theatre@usm.edu
601.266.4161 (Dance) • dance@usm.edu