The College of Fine and Applied Arts is pleased to announce that Kevin Warner will be joining Appalachian State University as the Chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance, effective July 1, 2015.
“I am honored to be joining Dr. Treadaway’s team in the College of Fine and Applied Arts at Appalachian State University and look forward to working beside my new colleagues in the Department of Theatre and Dance,” Warner said, “My new position allows me to merge two of my greatest passions in life, theatre and dance, and to work collaboratively to determine the myriad of ways we can make these art forms accessible to the students at ASU, and to the surrounding community.”
Warner will be replacing Marianne Adams, who has been the Chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance for 8 years and will return to the dance faculty for the Spring 2016 semester.
“I extend my heartfelt appreciation for Marianne’s service to the Department of Theatre and Dance and am excited to see her return to the classroom and continue to serve our students,” Dr. Glenda Treadaway, Dean of the College of Fine and Applied Arts said, “And, I welcome Kevin to the AppState family. I am confident that he will be an effective and dynamic leader for this active department.”
Warner is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Dance at The State University of New York College at Brockport. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Dance from Temple University, and has done post-graduate work in Early Childhood, Elementary and Music Education. Warner is a NYS certified teacher in both Dance (PreK-12) and Childhood Education (1-6), and has taught in public schools in New York and North Carolina. In addition to engagement as a director and choreographer of both theatre and dance, he maintains an active teaching and scholarship agenda focused on the role of dance in teaching and learning across all disciplines, particularly in public elementary school settings. Warner serves as the Advocacy Chair of the New York State Dance Education Association, as a Co-director of the Hunter Institute on Young Children at the College at Brockport.
Previously, Warner was the Program Director for North Carolina’s A+ Schools Program where he designed and implemented teacher training and professional development for a network of over 100 schools nationally. He has also served as project coordinator for the Appalachian Arts in Education Partnership, a federally funded (Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination grant) consortium of Appalachian State University, local schools and area arts councils in northwestern North Carolina, and as the project director for a Dana Foundation Rural Initiatives Grant to design and implement Teaching Artist training to rural counties in Northwestern and Northeastern North Carolina.
As an artist, Warner has choreographed and performed for companies including Ann Vachon/Dance Conduit, Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre, Opera House Theatre Company, and Melanie Stewart Dance. Most recently, he directed Nijinsky’s Last Dance for Bread and Water Theatre Company (NY); and choreographed productions of The Rocky Horror Show, The Music Man and The Wizard of Oz in Western NY. As a Teaching Artist, Warner has worked with public and private school children throughout NC, NY, NJ, DE and PA, presenting creative movement residency programs for PreK-6th grade children on topics including “The Ocean Habitat,” “Forces and Motion,” and “Life Cycles.”
For more information about the Department of Theatre and Dance visit www.theatre.appstate.edu
Kevin Warner
Kevin Warner, Appalachian State University, Chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance