UF dance major nationally recognized as top choreographer

June 25, 2010

GAINESVILLE, Fla.- Megan Kendzior, who received a master’s of fine arts in dance from the University of Florida this spring, was honored with the American College Dance Festival Association Dance Magazine Award for Outstanding Student Choreographer for her work, “Witness.”

“I feel overjoyed and honored with the success of ‘Witness,’” said Kendzior. “I visited the Auschwitz concentration camp during August 2009. I felt compelled to speak up for those who can no longer speak for themselves.”

Kendzior’s research was funded with a grant from the University Scholars Program 2009-2010. The creation of “Witness” was inspired by the ideas of George Santayana, that the one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again. “When you stand here, be silent. When you leave here, be not silent,” he said.

“Witness” premiered in the Fall BFA Dance Showcase 2009, which lead to multiple performances at UF and the University of Illinois, and in New York City, Israel and Washington, D.C., in 2010.

A panel consisting of three dance professionals viewed the 30 dance performance finalists, selected from hundreds of works in the National College Dance Festival, held in May at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Out of the 30 finalists chosen, only 10 were undergraduate students. Panelists selected the two award winners, the Outstanding Student Choreographer and the Outstanding Student Performer, and also noted an additional nine student-dancers for their excellent performances.

“UF offers students world-class opportunities to develop their creativity. The Gator Nation can take great pride in Ms. Kendzior’s artistic achievement which was supported by the University Scholars Program and was the first such award of distinction for choreography for the School of Theatre and Dance,” said College of Fine Arts Dean Lucinda Lavelli.

Among other achievements while at UF, Kendzior was the College of Fine Arts Student Government Senator and is the founding president of a student organization for dance majors, Dance in a Suitcase.

Kendzior will move to New York City to pursue a professional career in modern dance performance and choreography. She plans to start her own dance company and continue making historically provocative and powerful dances.