Experts

T. Gatling (personal communication, February 25, 2008)

This was a personal interview. Travis Gatling is an associate professor at the Ohio University School of Dance. He has a Master of Fine Arts in Dance degree from The Ohio State University and experience as a choreographer and performer with a variety of universities and dance companies. This interview provides an insightful outlook from the technical dance specialist on the subjects of commonly admired dance forms in America, the relationship between sexuality and social and performance dance, the establishment of artistic value in social dance and the underlying reasons for contrast between social and performance dance.

C. Szeto (personal communication, March 4, 2008)

This was a personal interview. Chihoe Szeto is a professional dancer, choreographer and instructor who specializes in the genres of hip hop, club dance, freestyle and salsa. He offers personal instruction of his specializing genres as well as go-go dance, night club dance, reggaeton, rave dance, wedding dance, cardio hip hop and stretching and flexibility classes at four studios located around California. This interview provides a look into the views of sexuality in dance and its relationship to the contrast between social and performance dance from a social dance specialist’s perspective. Szeto’s views highlight the artistry and skilled use of sexuality in social dance and how the workings of instructors like himself supply credibility to social dance as an art form.

A. Corvino (personal communication, March 4, 2008)

This was a personal interview. Andra Corvino has been a professor specializing in ballet at the Juilliard School since 1995. She has performed with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet Company, Maryland Ballet and many others across the U.S. and Canada. This interview provides an outlook on the presence of sexuality in performance dance and a comparison of performance to social dance from the point of the accomplished technical dance specialist. Corvino explains the importance of dance as an art form and how ballet and other technical dances have gained that respect. She also discusses the natural sexuality in dance no matter what genre.

T. Randall (personal communication, March 5, 2008)

Tresa Randall is an assistant professor at the Ohio University School of dance. She has experience as a performer with many companies and has also done much award-winning scholarly work on dance topics. She has published articles and book reviews in Dance Research Journal and regularly presents papers at national and international conferences to organizations such as the Society of Dance History Scholars, Congress on Research in Dance, and National Dance Education Organization. Randall is a valuable contact because of her developed skills in researching dance and her wide range of knowledge of dance in general and of other valuable sources of dance information. In this communication specifically she cites sources of dance information she has used and provides tips on finding information on different dance genres.

C. Green (personal communication, March 5, 2008)

Conrad Green is an award-winning television producer noted for his work on reality television shows. He has helped produce shows like Red Handed, Big Brother and Popstars, and he has worked with accomplished television networks like BBC and 19 TV. Green is currently working as the executive producer of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. In this communication he discusses his work on Dancing with the Stars and explains the showmanship aspect of performance which they highlight in the show to appeal to viewers. He also gives his views on the artistic value of the show and describes the elements of dance the producers utilize to create the hit show. This source would be useful for quotations about how to reach America's interest in dance from a business perspective.