Nolan Dennett, architect of Dance program at Western, retires

nolan dennett wears a ball cap and toasts us with a small tumbler of reddish liquid

We are honoring the work of Professor Nolan Dennett as he keeps moving and shaking into retirement after 32 years at Western.

Cheers Nolan--we got you an Air Plant because back in the day you built a dance program out of thin air!

Nolan Dennett is the original architect of the dance program at Western. With the BFA degree, it has been Mr. Dennett’s vision to provide a bridge from the world of academic dance training into the professional world of time-based art.

Over the years Mr. Dennett has assembled a roster of internationally-acclaimed dance artists to teach, perform, choreograph and be in residence at Western. Those artists have included Sylvain Lafortune from the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Kathy Casey, artistic director of Montreal Danse, Susan Marshall, Alan Good from the Merc Cunningham company and Kraig Patterson and Penny Hutchinson from the Mark Morris Dance Group - to name only a few.

Mr. Dennett has been teaching at Western since 1989, first as a movement specialist in the Theater Department and then as Director of the Dance Program. During this time he has directed and collaborated on a number of theatrical works as well as choreographing over 30 major ballets.

In addition to being an award-winning choreographer in the academic setting, Mr. Dennett has created new works for the National Ballet of Peru, Ririe/Woodbury Dance Company, and the Idaho Theater for Youth-all of which tour internationally. Mr. Dennett has been a Fulbright Scholar and has appeared as a dancer, in the works of Louis Falco, Jennifer Muller, Lucas Hoving, Bill Evans, Alice Condodina (Limon) Della Davidson, and Anna Sokolow. He is also the author of numerous short stories and articles as well as the critically acclaimed novel, “Place of Shelter.”

Mr. Dennett has served 3 terms on the National Board of Directors of the American College Dance Festival Association.

We are indebted to Nolan for his dedication to dance, and his invaluable contribution to creating Dance at Western. Bon voyage, Nolan! Stay in touch!

Authored on

Sep 1, 2021 4:22pm