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TaMara Swank

TaMara Swank
Assistant Professor, Department Coordinator, Dance
Dance, Theatre and Dance

TaMara Swank teaches undergraduate dance technique courses as well as dance kinesiology and teaching of dance. TaMara has been teaching dance for over twenty years and has developed multiple dance programs. She was the Artistic Director and founder of Studio 22 Performing Arts Center, the founder of SHUDA, the ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ University community dance program and assisted in the development of the ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ dance major and minor. TaMara has also created and developed the ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ Cheerleading Squad, the Dance Club and the Griffin Dance Team. She holds a Master of Science Degree in Exercise Science and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Dance. She has been commissioned to create choreography for children’s programs, high school dance companies, university dance programs and musical theatre productions. TaMara has taught master classes for festivals and conferences including the National and Regional High School Dance Festival. As dance faculty at ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ University, she has choreographed more than forty pieces for dance concert productions and musicals. Her choreography has been selected to perform at the Baltimore Dance Invitational – Professional Dance Showcase in Baltimore, Maryland and the 30th Annual Jazz & Tap Festival in Virginia. TaMara also has a list of original works including, “The Seven Deadly Sins” dance concert and “EleMental Revolution”, a dance theatre production produced in collaboration with theatre colleagues. She has presented, Collaborative Culture in Education, in collaboration with education faculty at ACRES National Conference, Tucson, AZ and the Early Childhood Institute Annual Conference, Grove City, PA. The project was also presented at the 2014 NDEO national conference in Chicago.

Education

  • Bachelor of Arts, Dance, Concentration Ballet, Point Park University (Pittsburgh, PA) 1991

  • Master of Science, Exercise Science and Health Promotion, California University of Pennsylvania (California Pennsylvania) 2006

Publications

  • Suppo, J. L. & Swank, T. (2019). Embracing collaboration through the lens of exceptional needs dance: A mixed methods study. Journal of Dance Education, DOI: 10.1080/15290824.2019.1566828

  • Suppo, J. L. & Swank, T. (Accepted). Steps to inclusion…dance steps that is! Dance Education in Practice.

Awards

  • 1998 Golden Shovel Award—City of Franklin For the development of Studio22 Dance Academy and Performing Arts Center

Organizations

  • IADMS - International Association for Dance Medicine & Science

  • NDEO - National Dance Education Organization

Presentations

  • Regional & National High School Dance Festival, Virginia

  • Swank, T., (October 2016) Dance Integration: Creating Interdisciplinary Experiences. ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ University, Board of Trustees, Greensburg, PA.

  • Swank, T., & Suppo, J. L. (March, 2014) Collaboration in education. ACRES National Conference 2014, Tucson, AZ.

  • Swank, T., & Suppo, J. L. (November, 2014). Culture of collaboration in higher education. NDEO’s 16th Annual National Dance Education Organization Conference, Chicago, IL.

  • Swank, T., (November 2016) Dance Integration: Creating Interdisciplinary Experiences. ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ University, Celebrating Scholarship, Greensburg, PA.

Certifications

  • 2015 - CPT-Certified Personal Trainer

  • 2006-2010 PES-NASM