Jan Van Dyke
| Jan Van Dyke | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | April 15, 1941 |
| Died | July 3, 2015 Greensboro, North Carolina |
| Education |
Martha Graham School Alwin Nikolais School |
| Alma mater |
University of Wisconsin George Washington University University of North Carolina at Greensboro |
| Occupation | Dancer, choreographer, professor, scholar |
| Spouse(s) | John Gamble John Robins Jerry Varner |
Jan Van Dyke (15 April 1941 – 3 July 2015) was an American dancer, choreographer, dance educator and scholar who was a pioneer of modern and contemporary dance in Washington, D.C. and North Carolina.
Van Dyke graduated from the University of Wisconsin with an undergraduate degree in dance. She was the first person admitted to the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences at George Washington University's Master of Arts in Dance Program. She received her Masters of Arts from George Washington University in 1966. The following year she founded the Georgetown Workshop dance studio with John Gamble. In 1970 she moved to New York City and studied modern dance with Merce Cunningham and at the Martha Graham School and the Alwin Nikolais School. She returned to Washington, D.C. in 1972 and established her own studio, the Dance Project, which became the leader in modern dance training and performance in D.C.. The Dance Project was designed to cultivate modern dance by providing technical training and performance opportunities. She founded a modern dance company, Jan Van Dyke and Dancers, which toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe. Van Dyke performed with her company and also as a solo artist. In 1980, she was honored by the Metropolitan Dance Association at their first annual dance awards for her work in the D.C. area. Two years later she relocated her dance company to San Francisco and became a faculty member for Footwork Studio. In 1985 she disbanded her company and moved to London to teach at the Laban Dance Centre. She later renamed the Dance Project as Dance Place and turned the organization over to Carla Perlo, and started up the Dance Project organization again in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1989, when she began working on her doctoral degree at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She earned an Ed.D. in curriculum and educational foundations and became a professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Van Dyke taught dance at the university for twenty-three years and served as the Head of the Department of Dance from 2006 to 2011 before becoming professor emerita.Janet Lilly succeeded Van Dyke as head of the dance department.
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