GRADUATE STUDENT PROFILES
Vanessa Anspaugh, Class of 2008
“More than anything, the Smith MFA Program gave me a community of other artists to closely engage with and to be challenged and inspired by. I built life long relationships with the other students and faculty that are at the foundation of my current creative life. Having the opportunity to learn how to teach, through teaching, threw me right in, and gave me the confidence I needed to learn how to trust what I already knew and to share that enthusiasm for art and movement with others. Also, having access to all the classes and faculty at the other colleges even further supported my creative interests: Susan Waltner at Smith, Wendy Woodson at Amherst, Jim Coleman at Mount Holyoke, and Susan Mar Landaue at Hampshire: an incredible plethora of differing voices, experiences and perspectives. And lastly, what a gift to be debt free after an MFA!”
Since her time at Smith Vanessa has returned to New York City to continue her career as a working choreographer and performer. Her own work has been performed at various venues from New York to Los Angeles, and up to Montreal, QC. Last winter she premiered We Are Weather at Dance Theater Workshop, in their Fresh Tracks Program for Emerging Artists, as well as at Highways in L.A last Summer. This fall, she was awarded a Brooklyn Arts Exchange - Space Grant where she began and premiered her latest work, Casey, Cassidy, Cassandra...Whatever, which she has continued working on at Dance Theater Workshop as a STUDIO SERIES Artist in Resident. This winter she had her first solo show through the Studio Series at Dance Theater Workshop, which was a great success. As a performer Anspaugh is currently dancing for Juliette Mapp in her latest piece The Making of Americans which premieres at DTW April 13, 2011. In New York she has also enjoyed working with, learning from and performing for Faye Driscoll, Jillian Peña, Jen Rosenblit, Taylor Mac, Elizabeth Ward, among others. www.vanessaanspaugh.com
