Biography

Anne Harris Wilcox (MFA, K-12 NY certification) an associate professor for the Program of Dance and Movement at the University of Rochester, also serves as the Posse 8 mentor for the University, and is the Community Engaged Liaison for the Program of Dance. Anne is especially interested in inter-disciplinary and community-engaged learning and has designed courses such as Ecolinguistics (the study of verbal and non-verbal language with Solveiga Armoskaite); Moving Memories, an inter-generational choreography class for university and elder choreographers from the Rochester community; and Change: Welcomed, Denied, Inevitable, an investigation through movement, writing, and dialogue. She founded and directed Present Tense Dance (1991 – 2016) and her choreography has been presented regionally in Rochester Fringe Festivals, Geva Theater’s Fielding Nextstage, Wallbyrd Theater Co. productions, Dances at MUCCC, and Drumcliffe Irish Arts, and more. Anne’s interdisciplinary work includes signature pieces such as Seal Maiden, When the Souls Rise, The Kitchen Revue, A Public and Private Hearth, and Nanosecond. Anne has served as State Affiliate Representative for National Dance Education Organization (2016-2018), and President of New York State Dance Education Association (2012-2015). In 2016, NYSDEA awarded Anne the Outstanding Leadership Award. She presents nationally and internationally on topics such as kinesthetic education, creative assessment, linguistics and dance, and intergenerational dance. She founded, Active Learning Games (2013), a company that designs kinesthetic educational products for K-university learners. In 2024 her first book, Get Up and Learn: Anatomy, was published, which offers engaging kinesthetic lessons for teaching anatomy and kinesiology. Anne is certified in Pilates and continues training through the Mark Morris Dance Group to develop classes for people living with Parkinson’s. Anne’s work and research over the past six years focuses on the concept of change and its effects on the individual, society, and the environment. Her choreography often addresses climate issues as well as agency in creating positive change in the world.

Photo credit: Andrea Gluckman

Courses Taught

• DANC 167:  Ecolingustics
• DANC 200:  Anatomy and Kinesiology for Dance
• DANC 235:  Change: Welcome Denied Inevitable
• DANC 247:  Moving Memories
• DANC 385:  Dance Performance Workshop
• DANC 389W:  Senior Seminar