for the
H O W T H E L I N DA B E R RY S T E I N C O L L E G E O F F I N E A R T S
I S E M B R AC I N G I T S C R I T I CA L R O L E AT T H E I N T E R S E C T I O N
O F C R E AT I O N A N D T E C H N O L O GY
B Y M E L A N I E YO U N G
Had you passed by the Kinne Center
on any given Friday in July, you
might have glimpsed an unusual
dance class practicing enthusiastically
under the watchful eyes of
Jacksonville University master’s in
fine arts (MFA) graduate students and
partners from REVolutions Dance, an
inclusive dance program in Florida.
The integrated dance class focused
on adaptive movement, bringing
together Jacksonville University
Dance students and faculty and those
from the JU Occupational Therapy
(OT) program with volunteers and
participants from Jacksonville’s
Brooks Adaptive Sports and
Recreation program. The class, one
of several similar master classes
and workshops, coupled the latest
research in rehabilitative movement
with dance theory to further
participants’ experience in helping
people with different abilities.
For Dr. Tim Snyder, Dean of the Linda
Berry Stein College of Fine Arts
(LBSCFA), the class exemplified the
2 2 F E AT U R E S
power of partnership between the
performing arts and healthcare
sectors — beyond the traditional
tableau of arts students performing for
patients. “It was incredibly profound.
People of all ages, all abilities, engaging
together in movement, led by our
Dance and OT students. With the
Brooks Rehabilitation College of
Healthcare Sciences and our Linda
Berry Stein College of Fine Arts, the
intersection of arts and healthcare is
a natural fit, but one that has been
largely unexplored.”
Jacksonville University faculty
members are leading a charge to
enhance programming at the nexus
of performing art and medicine.
JU Professor of Dance and MFA
Coordinator Cari Freiberger,
who organized the adaptive
movement classes, leads a Dance
for Life program in Jacksonville for
individuals with Parkinson’s disease,
in conjunction with instructors in
New York and at the University of
Florida. The dance classes allow
Parkinson’s patients to focus on their
abilities, not their limitations.
JU alumni are already making their
marks in this brave new world.
For example, Glenn Morgan (MFA
Choreography, ’19) presented his
research Screening Collegiate
Dancers for Conditioning Level
in Helsinki, Finland, at the 2018
International Association for Dance
Medicine and Science Annual
Conference. He also conducted
a workshop on the Mechanics
of Improvisational Partnering at
the IADMS Annual Conference
in Montreal, Canada, in October
2019. Sabrina Santana-Cruz
(BFA Animation, ’16) is designing
titanium and plastic plates for
corrective surgery at KLS Martin
Manufacturing, a leading global
medical device company. And
Jennifer Lewis (BFA Photography,
’10) accepted a position in 2019 as
a medical photographer with the
world-renowned Mayo Clinic, where
she primarily works with breast
cancer patients.