Students from the Department of Dance at Mississippi School of the Arts recently performed at the Mississippi Dance Festival at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Hattiesburg campus. The choreographic works of MSA dance alumna Passion Hinnant, titled Summer, and Morgan Goodwin, titled Bottom of the River, were selected by the festival for performance. Both MSA graduates are freshmen in the Department of Dance at USM.
According to MDF, “The Mississippi Dance Festival is a three-day dance intensive taking place September 8th – 10th on the Southern Miss Hattiesburg campus. It is designed to serve Middle and High School pre-professional dance students and K-12 professional dance educators as well as traditional classroom teachers who seek to further their knowledge of and experience in dance through a diversity of master dance technique classes and forums, and other educational, social and performance experiences.”
Dance juniors and seniors attending the festival were: Celeste Garrett, Daria Fisher, Grace Bass, Jamison Carroll, Abigail Bankson, Brianna Blankenship, Devonna Curtis, Essence Morris, Junyla Silmon, Kenya Moore, and Michelle Garner.
MSA alumna, Katie Pickard, was also represented as an intern at the festival event. MSA Dance has previously been represented at the state’s dance festival with choreographic work from alumna Annaleigh Kurr and Aubrei Whitney (2015). For more information about Mississippi Dance Festival, visit their web site at www.mississippidancefestival.com.