UR Program of Dance and Movement

06/01/2026

✨Graduate Spotlight: KAIDENCE PACHECO!✨

Kaidence double-majored in Psychology and Dance. Her Senior Capstone project aimed to investigate the following: "How does learning multiple styles of Latin Dance across four classes help promote social connectedness amongst peers in adolescence and decrease feelings of loneliness and isolation?" She has been involved in the Program of Dance and Movement shows as a dancer and choreographer, and also choreographed for the University of Rochester's SALSEROS. Outside of the dance program, she is involved in research through URMC's Department of Psychiatry, and enjoys spending her free time reading and learning to crochet. After graduation, she will be pursuing her Master's degree in School Counseling.

Kaidence received this year’s Sevigny Service Award.

Congratulations, Kaidence! ✨🎉💜

05/31/2026

✨Graduate Spotlight: JAIME MARLEY!✨

Jaime has a B.S. in Neuroscience and a B.A. in Dance Studies, with a minor in Psychology. Her academic and clinical interests lie at the intersection of neuroscience, rehabilitation, and movement science, with a particular focus on sports and dance medicine. Jaime has extensive research and clinical experience across rehabilitation medicine, neurology, and psychology. She has served as a clinical research assistant at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and the University of Rochester Medical Center. Internationally, she conducted psychology research in Barcelona examining diagnostic labeling in children with ASD and ADHD, as well as projects in transcultural psychiatry. For her dance capstone, Jaime examined treatment approaches for dancers by comparing perspectives across professionals involved in an integrative rehabilitation care model – including physical therapists, sports medicine physicians, and orthopedists – who specialize in treating dancers versus those who do not. She acted as a teaching assistant, represented the URochester as a Meridian Society Ambassador, and has held leadership roles within the Louvre Performance Ensemble and Kappa Delta. Jaime plans to pursue medical school with the intent of specializing in sports and dance medicine.

Congratulations, Jaime! ✨🎉💜

05/30/2026

✨Graduate Spotlight: CATHERINE MALONE!✨

Catherine is a Dance Studies and English double major. Her capstone research combined her dance education and her additional major in English to examine why dances from movies and television shows go viral. Catherine has loved being involved in the University of Rochester's dance community for the past four years and has spent much of her free time choreographing and rehearsing for department concerts. Moreover, Catherine loves to write and has published dance performance reviews with the Campus Times. Overall, she is very excited to continue her pursuits in the field of dance and dance criticism post-graduation.

Catherine was also the recipient of the Above & Beyond Award in 2024.

Congratulations, Catherine! ✨🎉💜

05/29/2026

✨Graduate Spotlight: JOY LIN!✨

Joy is a Business Analytics and Dance Studies double major. She has been dancing for more than 10 years. Her capstone project examines how K-pop choreography functions as a strategic tool for constructing group identity; drawing on choreographic analysis, media studies, and practice-based workshops. Through both research and embodied experimentation, she investigated how movement communicates collective image across live performance and digital platforms. Beyond her capstone, Joy was actively involved in the Program of Dance and Movement performances throughout her four years, with interests covering contemporary, street, and different popular dance forms. Outside of dance she loves traveling, hiking, watching concerts, exploring anything new.

Congratulations, Joy! ✨🎉💜

05/28/2026

✨Graduate Spotlight: STELLA LEMPERT!✨

Stella is a Dance and Political Science major with a minor in Computational Biology. She has been dancing since she was three years old in styles such as Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Lyrical, Contemporary, and Hip Hop. When she's not dancing, she's a Coxswain on the Men’s Rowing Team. For her capstone project she studied physical movement during suffrage protests in the United States.

Stella received this year’s Sevigny Service Award, and was the recipient of the Above & Beyond Award in 2024.

Congratulations, Stella! ✨🎉💜

05/27/2026

✨Graduate Spotlight: KRITHVI KRISHNAN!✨
Krithvi is a Dance Studies and Psychology major. Her capstone is about learning how somatic practices can help dancers and non-dancers expand their movement repertoire to make dance more accessible. She also choreographed a piece from this research. Outside of dance, she loves to volunteer and play the viola.

Congratulations, Krithvi! ✨🎉💜

05/26/2026

✨Graduate Spotlight: VERA BLACKFORD!✨

From LaFargeville, New York, Vera Blackford is a Dance Studies and Psychology major with a minor in Brain and Cognitive Sciences. For her capstone project, she investigated the effects of teaching dance to elementary-aged students on college dancers, specifically the relationships they form and their perceptions of themselves in society. Vera worked with a local school, where she and her participants taught dance classes twice a week in an after-school program. Outside of her studies, she enjoys participating in the Program of Dance and Movement shows, working and volunteering at Mt. Hope Family Center, being a member of the dance council, and teaching dance at Next Level Dance Center.

Vera received this year’s Dancer Citizen Award, and was the recipient of the Sevigny Service Award in 2025, and the Above & Beyond Award in 2023.

Congratulations, Vera! ✨🎉💜

🎓

05/21/2026

Paid opportunity for dancers with one of our Dance alums, George Mechalke!

05/17/2026

As we celebrate commencement, it is exciting to share a blog from our esteemed URochester alumna Nicole Zizzi. In this fascinating article about how dance is in conversation with design, robotics, and advanced technology, she writes, “When I was in college studying both physics and dance, it was actually my movement knowledge that helped me get through all those upper-level quantum mechanics courses and not the amount of time I spent in the Physics library (to the dismay of some of my classmates). Dance helped not only with stress relief but also to solidify abstract concepts. In my graduate architectural studies, I immediately understood the value of iterative inquiry within the design process, I knew how to collaborate with others, and I was able to conceptualize my building designs from a somatic perspective.”

We love you and your work, Nicole!
University of Rochester

CfD Conversation 2022_02 | February 25th, 2022

05/06/2026

Today is URochester's Annual Day of Giving. Did you know you can designate the Program of Dance and Movement to support our academic and artistic activities? We appreciate you and your partnership in fostering the next generation of dance artists! Select Academic Schools, School of Arts and Sciences, Program of Dance and Movement! Thank you! ❤️
https://give.rochester.edu/day-of-giving-2026/?a=12996841&utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Dayofgiving26