Professor Kelly Lester
Professor
Bio
Dr. Kelly Ferris Lester serves as Associate Provost for Faculty Success and Professor of Dance at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM). Lester was the inaugural director (2018-2022) of USM’s Center for Faculty Development and is a featured faculty expert in ACUE's Effective Teaching Framework program.
Dr. Lester is a Certified Evans Teacher, a Registered Somatic Movement Therapist, and Co-director for Eastwest Somatics Institute for Yoga, Dance and Movement Studies. Lester served on the National Dance Education Organization Board of Directors from 2011-2024 in multiple roles, including Director of Student Chapters, Policy Board Director, Treasurer, and President (2021-22). Her choreography has been featured in many national festivals including ACDA galas (2016,2011) and The Body Politic with collaborator and dancer Elizabeth Lentz-Hill (2017-18).
- EDD - University of Southern Mississippi (2022)
- Choreography and Performance (MFA) - SUNY College at Brockport (2007)
- Dance (BFA) - University of Memphis (2000)
DAN 130 (Dance Appreciation)
DAN 135 (Introduction to Dance Studies)
DAN 201 (Beginning Modern Dance)
DAN 212 (Elements of Dance Composition)
DAN 301 (Intermediate Modern Dance)
DAN 310 (Advanced Dance Composition)
DAN 312 (Junior Choreographic Projects)
DAN 384 (Introduction to Somatics)
DAN 401 (Advanced Modern Dance)
DAN 411 (Thesis Writing for Dance)
DAN 420 (Repertory Dance Company)
- Multiple Modes of Reflection, The ACUE 'Q Blog, 2019
- Somatics: A Buzzword Defined, Journal of Dance Education, 2017, 10.1080/15290824.2016.1117615
- Environments for Self-Learning, University of Illinois Press, 2017, 10.5406/illinois/9780252039409.003.0005
- DANCE 2050: The Future of Dance in Higher Education, Journal of Dance Education, 2014, 10.1080/15290824.2014.881189
- (Re)Forming Collective
Music: Laurie Anderson, Meredith Monk, Todd Reynolds sound engineer: Kelly Ferris Lester, April 2015, 10 dancers; Restaged for the South American College Dance Association(ACDA) Adjudicated Concert Series, Hattiesburg, MS; selected for the Gala Performance - The Body Politic Tour
An evening length performance with Elizabeth Lentz-Hill—includes Lentz-Hill’s solo My Body Performs, Lester’s solo In Her Clothes, and duet People Issues with an interdisciplinary response. The tour includes the performance and master classes in modern, somatics, and dance theatre (50% in creation of project; 100% in that both performers dance in the full show and engage in the dialogue) Performances include: Mississippi Dance Festival, Hattiesburg, MS, September 2017; Big River Dance Festival, Huntington, WV, September 2017; Fall Dance Festival, Ocean Springs, MS, September 2017; The University of the South, January 2018;Middle Tennessee State University, January 2018;Austin Peay State University, January 2018;University of Memphis, January 2018; Auburn University, March 2018; Chicago, IL self-produced concert, May 2018; Chicago public and private K-12 schools, May 2018; FestivalSouth, Hattiesburg, MS, June 2018 - Constrained Embrace
Music: Philip Glass, November 2008, 7 dancers Restaged at Southeast Regional ACDFA for Adjudicated Concert Series, Murfreesboro, TN, March 2009 Restaged for Dance on the Coast concert, Gulfport, MS, January 2009 - In Her Clothes
Music: Gustav Santaoalla, Nadia Sirota, June and August 2015, solo Performances include: BioDance Social Justice and Dance Series, Rochester Fringe Festival, September 2015; Body Politic Tour 2017-18
- POD Network
- National Dance Education Organization, President-Elect
- International Somatic Movement and Education Association