Dance Faculty

Program Director 

Erin Foreman-Murray Senior Professorial Lecturer CAS | Performing Arts

Erin Foreman-Murray is a contemporary dance artist who focuses her creative research on improvisational performance practices. Her choreographic work has been presented by New Faces New Dances (Salzbu

  efm@american.edu

  (202) 885-3942

Faculty

Ronya-Lee Anderson Professorial Lecturer CAS | Performing Arts

Ronya-Lee LaVaune Anderson is the daughter of Pauline and Roxroy Anderson; the granddaughter of Madge McLellan and of Mavis Lawrence, both healers and entrepreneurs. She is an Afro-Caribbean woman of

  rlander@american.edu

Esperonto Bean Adjunct Instructor CAS | Performing Arts

Esperonto is recognized as one of the pioneer House Dancers from Baltimore, and is well-versed in many dance styles, including House, Hip-Hop, Locking, and Punking/Waacking. He is the founder and dire

  ebean@american.edu

Lisa Clarkson Adjunct Professorial Lecturer CAS | Performing Arts

Lisa Clarkson is a dancer, movement educator, and physical therapist. She had a 10+ year career as a full-time professional ballet dancer, with Louisville Ballet, Lexington Ballet and Ballet Memphis,

  clarkson@american.edu

Jocelyn Cox Adjunct Professorial Lecturer CAS | Performing Arts

Jocelyn E. Cox (Maryland) is a proud member of the Actors' Equity Association, and the independent author of Jocelyn Learns to Dance, for which she received the Prince George's Arts and Humanities Cou

  jcox@american.edu

Nkenge Cunningham Adjunct Instructor CAS | Performing Arts

Nkenge Cunningham began her professional dancing career at the precious age of 5 in New York City under the auspices of Marie Basse Wiles, founder and director of Maimouna Keita School of West African

  ncunning@american.edu

Omi Davis-Smith Assistant Professor CAS | Performing Arts

A multifaceted artist-scholar, Dr. Omilade Davis-Smith has worked the majority of her life as a dancer, educator and performer. Omi earned a PhD in Dance from Temple University with a specialization i

  odavissm@american.edu

Gabriel Mata Adjunct Professorial Lecturer CAS | Performing Arts

Gabriel Mata (pronounced: gah-bryehl mah-tah) is a Mexican U.S. American dance choreographer, educator, dance film maker, and performer. He also navigates the world as queer, Latinx, immigrant, and as

  gmata@american.edu

Sarah Oppenheim Adjunct Professorial Lecturer CAS | Performing Arts

Sarah Beth Oppenheim hails from the Wild, Wild West where she could never cut on the dotted black line, so she read Steinbeck and became a modern dancer instead. She earned her BFA at SUNY Purchase an

  soppenhe@american.edu

Kristopher Pourzal Adjunct Professorial Lecturer CAS | Performing Arts

Kristopher Pourzal teaches courses in dance and theater history and Black cultural production more broadly. He is at work on a dissertation about New York City’s Clark Center, a community-oriented dan

  kpourzal@american.edu

Stephanie Vadala Adjunct Instructor CAS | Performing Arts

Stephanie Vadala is a dancer, educator, photographer, cat mom, and beloved member of the DMV dance community. She is a native of Syracuse, NY, where she trained in many dance styles from the age of th

  vadala@american.edu

Irina Wunder Adjunct Instructor CAS | Performing Arts

Irina Wunder, an ethnic Russian, received her classical dance training in Turkmenistan, then a republic of the former Soviet Union. She performed with the Republic's State Theater of Opera and Ballet

  wunder@american.edu

Alice Wylie Adjunct Instructor CAS | Performing Arts

Born in Washington DC, Alice began her dance training with Jane Bittner and trained extensively with several other renowned teachers including Dawei Zhang, Suzanne Farrell, Patricia McBride, Jean-Pier

  wylie@american.edu