Tina Curran, MFA, Ph.D cofounded the Language of Dance Center with Dr. Ann Hutchinson Guest and Heidi Wiess in 1997. She was the first certified Language of Dance Specialist in the United States and is now a LOD Teacher Trainer. Dr. Curran is currently the Director of the BFA Dance: UTeach Dance Education program at the University of Texas at Austin in the College of Fine Arts, Department of Theater and Dance. She oversees the preparation and professional mentorship of students pursuing their Texas dance teacher certification, acts as a liaison with the College of Education, and oversees educational initiatives within the program and in the dance education community. Her areas of research explore dance literacy, living dance legacy, and teacher preparation and professional development. She is a faculty member of the Dance Education Laboratory at the Harkness Dance Center in New York City. She has led trainings, and presented workshops and interactive keynotes at numerous locations including: University of California Santa Barbara, Brigham Young University, New York University, Royal Academy of Dance and Roehampton University in the United Kingdom, Taipei National University of the Arts, El Centro Nationale des les Arts in Mexico City, New York City Department of Education, National Dance Education Organization, dance and the Child International, International Council of Kinetography Laban, Dance History Scholars, Center for Educator Development in Fine Arts, Texas Dance Educators Association.
As a consultant for the New York City Department of Education Office of Arts and Special Projects, Tina first participated in the writing of the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Dance PreK-12 and then delivered professional development workshops for the certified dance specialists. As a certified Director from Score for dances documented in Labanotation, Curran has staged works from the ballet and modern dance repertoire including: L'Après Midi d'un Faune by Vaslav Nijinsky; How Long, Brethren? by Helen Tamiris; Desperate Heart by Valerie Bettis; and both Gossip and Life Continues by Maggie Grippenberg. Her book credits include: Your Move: The Language of Dance Approach to the Study of Movement and Dance, 2nd ed. co-authored with Dr. Ann Hutchinson Guest, George Balanchine Critical Editions: Concerto Barocco co-authored with Christian Matjias and The Experience of Staging Vaslav Nijinky’s L’Apres-midi d’un Faune in Higher Education.
Curran received her BFA in Dance from The Juilliard School, MFA in Choreographic Theory and Practice from Southern Methodist University and Ph.D in Teaching and Administration from New York University.