CONGRATULATIONS to OSU Dance alumna Dianne McIntyre who received a Doris Duke Impact Award this June. This award is part of the larger Doris Duke Performing Artist Awards, launched in late 2011 as a special 10-year initiative of the foundation to empower, invest in and celebrate artists by offering flexible, multi-year funding in response to financial challenges that are specific to the performing arts.

A Distinguished Alumni Award winner of Ohio State, Dianne McIntyre’s trailblazing career has touched the genre of dance for over 40 years. Her work combines elements of both dance and theatre, exploring cultural themes while challenging the viewer’s ability to think and feel. As an improviser and experimentalist, she interweaves dance with live jazz music, creating what she coined “visual conversations” between the dance and music makers. Her work on OSU Dancers in Voice of the Blues embodied this artistic approach.

View below a video about Dianne McIntyre as a visiting artist at OSU, working with Dance students to realize her piece for Dance Downtown in 2013:

Each recipient of a Doris Duke Impact Award is receiving $80,000, totaling in $1.6 million to 20 new grantees including choreographer Susan Rethorst who recently set a work on dancers at Ohio State. Fellow alumna Bebe Miller received this prestigious recognition in 2012. OSU Dance is proud to play a part in the creative endeavors of these visionary artists.