ABOUT ANN LAW
Ann Law is a professional dancer, choreographer, dance educator and arts activist. She has been dancing since the age of three, beginning her dance studies in Southern California. As a young dancer, she moved to San Francisco, receiving her BA in Dance from Mills College, where she performed professionally with a modern dance company, choreographed many independent solos, and studied with a broad range of dancers and dance educators. Her first dance education opportunity took her to Miami, Florida where she taught modern dance for Dance Miami (a modern dance company) and started a small alternative dance space, Mary Street Dance Theatre in Coconut Grove. Moving from there to Philadelphia, she continued to study with dancers and dance educators at Temple University and other private dance studios. Following Philadelphia, she spent six years dancing and performing in New York City where she immersed herself in the training, performing and viewing of dance. She performed in many different venues from outdoor performances in Brooklyn to the DIA Art Foundation in New York City. In 1988, after seeing a performance by Dana Reitz (now director of the dance program at Bennington College), she began to investigate improvisational dance. Since then, she has been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards for her work as an improvisational performer.
Eventually, she and her husband moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where she has continued to teach and perform in various cities and countries. In 1993, she founded the Barking Legs Theater, a professional dance performance and studio space whose mission is to support the work of artists living in the southeast and beyond. Barking Legs Theater wraps itself in the fabric of what makes Chattanooga unique, and continue to push artistic boundaries. In 2001, she became certified in Pilates from Romana Kryzanowska (New York City), who was chosen by Joseph Pilates to carry on his work. She has also spent many years studying Kinetic Awareness from founder and master teacher Elaine Summers. Both these movement systems support her growth as a teacher.
As a dance educator, she has developed many dance
curriculums, and recently completed her MA in Dance
Education from University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
In 2002, she began to develop and implement a progressive
dance curriculum at Chattanooga School for Arts and Science
for their kindergarten students. Since then, the program has
expanded and grades K-4th grade have received a brain-based
conceptual learning dance curriculum. Through her studies at
UNCG and with leading dance educator Anne Green Gilbert
(Seattle, Washington), her dance teachings continue to
develop and grow, transforming students into critical
thinkers capable of social change.
Committed to connecting individuals inside dance, education,
and community, Ann has had a strong dance influence in her
community. Her goal at Chattanooga State is to create a
Dance Program for students which can address the dancer as
performer, choreographer, educator and community activist.
She believes that this progressive dance curriculum at
Chattanooga State will make dance a leading component of art
education in the 21st century. Her teachings are designed to
transform students into critical thinkers capable of social
change, connecting students inside dance, information and
community.
She has been honored with the Tennessee Association of Dance
Outstanding Dance Educator Award in 2004, the Tennessee Arts
Commission’s Individual Artist Fellowship Award in Dance in
2001 and Professional Artist Development Award in 2002. She
has served on many dance panels in the states of Kentucky,
Georgia and Alabama. Currently, she is performing Passion
Flower, an original, evening-length dance that synthesizes
her kinesthetic and holistic experience with breast cancer.
She is also a very active board member for the Tennessee
Association of Dance.