Dance, Embodiment, and the Live Presence of Art

Contemporary dance at UNCSA is built in motion: bodies, music, light, fabric, space. For Brenda Daniels, who holds the Betsy Friday Distinguished Professorship in Contemporary Dance, endowed support has shaped decades of creative work and the ecosystem that surrounds it.

The professorship has funded guest artists, workshops, instruments for accompanists, costume materials, and live music collaborations that define the physical and sonic identity of her work. Student musicians are paid for performances; technical details like piano tuning are supported; costumes are built with greater artistic precision.

“My choreographic work for UNCSA has almost always had a live musician playing for the performances,” she explained, emphasizing how the benefits of professorship funding extend beyond any one recipient. Rather, the professorship supports the unseen infrastructure of creation: the network of people, tools, and details that make high-level performance and training possible.

After more than thirty years and nearly fifty works choreographed at the institution, Daniels describes another dimension of impact: renewal. Future travel and research supported by the professorship will allow her to study other companies and artistic environments, feeding new ideas back into her work with students.

“I hope that my students absorb my passion for the art form of dance,” she said, “and my total commitment to their growth and success.”

Through the Betsy Friday Distinguished Professorship, donors have invested not only in finished performances, but in the process — the rehearsals, collaborations, and small decisions that give dance its live presence. They have helped ensure that UNCSA dancers train and perform in environments where artistry is supported at every level.