Texas Woman’s University alumna Candice Salyers has received a $30,000 fellowship from the American Association of University Women to write a book on feminist choreography. 

Based on criteria such as excellence in teaching and commitment to women’s issues, the AAUW awarded Salyers, a visiting professor at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, with the Postdoctoral Research Leave Fellowship. The fellowship assists women to reach tenure positions and promote equality in education through independent research opportunities. The fellowship year began July 1 and will end on June 30, 2018.

Candice Salyers has received a $30,000 fellowship from the American Association of University Women to write a book on feminist choreography. [Photo courtesy of TWU]

Salyers is one of 250 recipients of AAUW fellowships and grants worldwide for the 2017-2018 academic year. Other AAUW-awarded projects range from researching the relationship of energy production and the environment to reduce negative impacts on marginalized communities to helping girls from rural Mongolia reach science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professions.

“It is an honor to be recognized by AAUW, which has supported the work of so many amazing women,” Salyers said in a release. “Because I love teaching, I devote most of my time to helping students, but it often means that there is less time available for other professional projects, such as choreography, performance, and publishing.”

‘FEMINIST CHOREOGRAPHIC PRACTICES’

Her book will examine “feminist choreographic practices,” according to the release. 

“My work seeks to provide historical context, to raise questions about how we might culturally and creatively embody the legacy of those social movements, and to empower all choreographers to acknowledge and expand the values brought forward by feminisms in their artistic work,” Salyers said.

“She is an example of how our students’ work is making an impact not only artistically, but also socially and politically.” 
Linda Caldwell

Salyers has worked on a multitude of dance projects, including her dissertation, “This Land is Your Land: Performing Philosophy in an American Terrain.” Performing her choreography at five national parks, Salyers aimed to incorporate elements of the performance location in conjunction with the mind and body. 

Her latest solo project, “A History of Levitation,” comprises of 100 original solos that capture physical and conceptual attributes of women saints. For a solo about St. Monica, she plans to travel to Morocco to study sacred geometry to shape the piece’s concepts and audience interaction opportunities.

“Rather than being a narrative story line about the events of her life, this dance explores the qualities that St. Monica embodied,” Salyers said.

Linda Caldwell, coordinator of TWU’s low-residency doctoral program in dance, said Salyers pushes the boundaries of scholarship.

 “She is an example of how our students’ work is making an impact not only artistically, but also socially and politically,” Caldwell said in a release.

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