Creator in Residence Archives - ��ý��Ƶ

Listening to your creative voice with Creator-in-Residence Patricia Smith

Communications — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 18:35:41 +0000

Patricia Smith, an American poet, spoken-word performer, playwright, author, writing teacher, and former journalist, will join ��ý��Ƶ as its next Creator-in-Residence.

A four-time individual National Poetry Slam champion and winner of the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize in 2021, Smith will work with writers and performers on campus. She plans to help students strengthen their voice and take their art form and craft to the next level.

Smith started down the creative path in life as a child, when her father came to Chicago from Arkansas in the Great Migration. He brought with him storytelling prowess that instantly fascinated Smith and sparked a desire in her to tell her own magical stories.

Several major influences on her creative work over the years have helped Smith shape and explore various forms of expression. “I’ll have to say my father, who encouraged my voice; Gwendolyn Brooks, who encouraged my vision, and the poetry slam, which taught me the importance of empathy and audience.”

Creatives often struggle to find their voice; Smith will be a tremendous resource for those students wanting to strengthen their creative voice.

“It’s important because it’s what differentiates you from all other artists,” Smith said. “It’s your signature. It’s your stamp. And you never really know. You can come to trust your voice, but that doesn’t mean you stop searching.”

Smith does not attribute one specific thing to inspiring her creative work.

“When you’re a writer, you’re a witness, and there’s nothing that doesn’t at least give you the beginning of an idea,” Smith said. “It’s a fascinating life—there are stories everywhere.”

Smith describes the creative process as something that “knocks you to your knees.”

“The ‘creation’ is what prompts you to stand up again,” she said.

The ��ý��Ƶ community will doubtless be energized by Smith’s new role as Creator-in-Residence. Her expertise and creative vision will complement an already vibrant student community.

“The key is to learn as much from the students as you’re hoping to teach them,” Smith said. “That no matter what their major, no matter the path they’ve already carved, the arts are the answer to so many questions.”

To improve as a writer, Smith urges people to stop concentrating so much on technique and remember joy, empathy, and patience.

“Don’t forget to live what you love,” Smith said. “I hope I, and the students I work with, give the community another way of thinking of something they thought they knew.”

In helping others find their voice, Smith offers a piece of advice.

“In most cases, they’ve found their voice; they just don’t trust it,” she said. “I talk a lot about the quirky, roundabout path to finding my own—it’s not always an easy process— and help them see the voice inside that’s begging them to listen.”

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Acclaimed choreographer Robert Battle sets tone as ��ý��Ƶ debuts Creator in Residence program

Communications — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 15:14:43 +0000

This story originally appeared in the spring/summer 2025 edition of ��ý��Ƶ magazine.

Trust your voice.

For Robert Battle, those three words speak to an artistic journey that has taken him to unanticipated heights in the dance world. Spoken in 2011 by the iconic Judith Jamison as she handed him the keys to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the advice would become a calling card for Battle for the next dozen years as he navigated the creative and cultural pressures that come with being the artistic director of one of the country’s most revered arts organizations.

“I think that’s one of the hardest things for artists, perhaps even people beyond artistic experiences—to trust their inner voice, to trust their instinct,” Battle said.

From 2011 through late 2023, he carried the New York-based Ailey to new levels of brilliance—hailed for introducing works by emerging artists and nurturing young talent while staying true to the dance company’s signature repertoire and cultural relevancy. It was an exhilarating ride that lasted until he stepped away to explore new artistic endeavors.

And now Battle has delivered that same message—trust your voice—to students at ��ý��Ƶ in his role as the university’s 2024-25 Creator in Residence. The newly launched residency will bring world-renowned creators to ��ý��Ƶ to collaborate with and inspire students and faculty.

“I think artmaking is so much about that,” Battle said of bringing the trust-your-voice lesson to students. “Yes, there’s technique involved but there’s mostly instinct, there’s mostly gut feelings about things before that paint brush hits the canvas or before that dance step comes out of you. You feel that what you have to say needs to be heard. I think that’s what I took from it, and to trust that is the hardest thing to do because of so many outside voices.”

Made possible through a gift from Harold ’72 and Mary Donn ’73 Jordan, the Creator in Residence program speaks to the university’s commitment to academic and artistic excellence. Future Creator in Residence programming is expected to span a range of disciplines, from sciences to humanities to arts.

“The program is built on a concept of collaboration—with students, faculty, and the community,” President Laurie A. Carter said. “These accomplished creators will come from across the academic disciplines, all creating in different ways, from performances and exhibitions to lectures and master classes. And many of them will bring with them a global following. We’re excited to see where it goes.”

“A lot to express”

Robert Battle

Battle set the tone for the new program over the past year, meeting with students and faculty across campus and leading dance and music students in the creation of an original dance performance, “Gather Together,” presented on campus in May. Additional performances and workshops were presented to students from Appleton schools.

Battle said early talks with campus leaders about the vision for the Creator in Residence program drew him to ��ý��Ƶ.

“We got to talking about this notion of infusing creativity and artistic dance into more parts of academia and how that might work,” he said.

The connection with students was immediate when Battle spent a week on campus in the fall.

“These students are multifaceted,” Battle said. “They’re really smart, and they value art, they value dance. They have a lot to express, a lot to say.”

Magazine: See the spring/summer 2025 edition of ��ý��Ƶ

When he returned to campus in February, Battle worked with students and faculty on a performance built on artistic expression. It evolved organically, collaboratively. Fourteen dance students, under the tutelage of Margaret Paek and Mauriah Donegan Kraker, both visiting assistant professors of dance, were selected for the performance.

Battle said he usually comes in with steps already set. But he wanted this to be a collaborative process, with creative ideas flowing both ways.

“To me, that’s my excitement, to always be learning, investigating, trying new things,” he said. “I think this is a space where I felt safe to do that, very much supported by the faculty and by the dancers.”

Battle then returned in Spring Term to finalize and present the performance, working in partnership with rehearsal director Donegan Kraker and Conservatory faculty Loren Kiyoshi Dempster and Jean Carlo Ureña Gonzalez. Held in the Esch Hurvis Studio in Warch Campus Center, the performances featured the student dancers, Conservatory faculty, and student musicians, all collaborating with Battle on an original composition and choreography.

Ella Fajardo-Wilde, a sophomore from Brooklyn, New York, who grew up immersed in dance, called the experience “incredibly rewarding and boundary-pushing.” She had a solo in the dance performance where her input was not only sought but encouraged by Battle.

“He met me at my dance level while still challenging my choreography memory, endurance, and focus,” Fajardo-Wilde said. “He ensured that this beautiful cast was seen and appreciated for the uniqueness, skill, and grace each individual brought.”

And it wasn’t all about dance. Fajardo-Wilde said Battle connected with the students and the instructors in ways that built trust. That’s not always a given when someone so accomplished is coming in from the outside.

“As a Brooklyn, New York, native, I grew up with Alvin Ailey all around me—seeing the posters, watching the company perform, and knowing about the prestigious program that thousands train and work for years to join,” Fajardo-Wilde said. “Initially, I felt intimidated and nervous to approach or even talk to him. However, the times we talked about different Brooklyn neighborhoods, our similarities and differences in food preferences, or how our days were going, I always found myself enjoying an amazing conversation.”

Donegan Kraker called Battle’s interactions with students and faculty genuine and his collaborations inspirational—deep conversation around process and interdisciplinary possibilities.

“This cross-pollination of idea, interest, training is what makes ��ý��Ƶ unique, is what sets up our artists for post-��ý��Ƶ success,” she said.

Eye on collaboration

Robert Battle directs a rehearsal in the dance studio in Warch Campus Center.

It was a thrilling kick-off to a Creator in Residence program that ��ý��Ƶ leadership is excited to see grow. It comes as ��ý��Ƶ is investing in collaboration among the academic disciplines. Fall 2025 will see the opening of West Campus, where the second floor of the new building at E. College Avenue and Drew Street will feature offices and studios for Conservatory faculty, a Humanities Center, a recording studio, and offices and classrooms for math, computer science, and data science faculty—all equipped with innovative tools that will facilitate greater academic collaboration and creativity. On the building’s first floor will be the new home for the Trout Museum of Art, a nonprofit art gallery that will provide avenues to greater community partnership while adding another layer of creative energy to the ��ý��Ƶ campus.

What Battle brought to campus via the Creator in Residence program builds on that momentum.

Alison Scott-Williams, executive vice president and chief operating officer at ��ý��Ƶ, oversaw the inaugural collaborative program. She said she was incredibly moved by the knowledge, insight, and passion Battle added to the student experience.

“He has flourished at the highest levels of the arts world,” she said. “He has been a creative juggernaut in dance, a trend setter, someone who has thrived amid incredible expectations. How exciting to have him here on our campus, sharing all his creative energy and genius with the ��ý��Ƶ community. He has set the template for what the Creator in Residence program can be.”

“Everybody has a story”

Battle sees the Creator in Residence role, no matter the discipline, as an opportunity to reinforce lessons already being taught at ��ý��Ƶ. As he led classes and built a dance performance from scratch, students came prepared because they are already immersed daily in the creative process, he said. You can see it and feel it in the halls of the Conservatory, in the galleries of the Wriston Art Center, in research labs and humanities classrooms.

“Sometimes you have to hear it from somebody from the outside,” Battle said. “You can be saying the same thing day after day and then someone comes in and sort of reinforces what is being offered and is being taught.”

That, he said, extends beyond the arts. Whether it’s Battle sharing his journey in dance or students hearing from a future Creator in Residence accomplished in another discipline, that fresh voice—coming from a place of accomplishment—is important.

“I feel everybody has a story,” Battle said. “And for the students to have access to those stories, to those people, whether it be a scientist or an artist or a philosopher or a poet—everything at its foundation is imbued with creativity. I think that’s the link in terms of the Creator in Residence. Creativity is not just for artists. It really is for the world. We usually don’t see it that way. That term is relegated to artistic endeavors when, actually, creativity is all around us all the time and is an important component to progress.”

A new focus

��ý��Ƶ’s Creator in Residence was one of Battle’s first opportunities after stepping away from the Ailey company.

“It was hard to walk away,” he said of leaving Ailey. “It’s a dream job. I think of it as more than a job; it’s a calling. But I think any good performer knows when to leave the stage, when you’ve said what you wanted to say and it’s time for someone else to take the stage.”

Battle, now in his early 50s, said he embraced the building of a dance community and family with Ailey. That included being on tour for eight months of the year and all the experiences that come with it.

“Sometimes you have to sort of let something go in order to move to the next phase of your life,” Battle said.” Sometimes, because we’re afraid to let go, we hold on to things much longer than they need to be held and then you miss an opportunity to grow.”

The opportunities since stepping away have been plentiful. In addition to the one-year role at ��ý��Ƶ, Battle has been named resident choreographer of the Paul Taylor Dance Company and has been invited to teach or speak at other colleges.

“It’s wonderful because I can now drop in and then move forward,” Battle said. “I get to sort of be an independent artist again, which is exciting—to be in different spaces with different organizations that have different footprints and different modes of working. That’s what is happening now.”

At ��ý��Ƶ and elsewhere, Battle said, it feels good to give back, to be that inspiration to others that his teachers and mentors were to him.

“I’ve done a lot in my career in dance,” he said. “I’ve climbed ladders and mountains that I didn’t even think possible, the pinnacle being artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. I feel I’m at this place in my career where I really want to give back in meaningful ways.”

That was evident as the year progressed and the ��ý��Ƶ dance performance came into focus. Paek said the power of creative collaboration could be seen throughout the rehearsal process as the students leaned into the work, supported each other, and embraced Battle’s lessons—insights into choreography at the highest levels. While the rehearsals were exhausting, the interactions and teaching moments that emerged could only happen when all parties are deeply invested.

“This kind of hands-on-experience—creating art together as faculty, professional artists, and students—this is what ��ý��Ƶ does so well and why the Creator in Residence program is so specifically well-suited to ��ý��Ƶ,” Paek said.

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Robert Battle-led dance performances to culminate inaugural Creator in Residence program

Communications — Mon, 05 May 2025 15:40:30 +0000

Dance performances led by acclaimed choreographer Robert Battle and featuring 13 ��ý��Ƶ students will be held May 9 and 10, the culmination of the university’s inaugural Creator in Residence program.

Performances are set for 7 p.m. May 9 and 2:30 and 7 p.m. May 10 in the Esch Hurvis Studio in Warch Campus Center. The performances are free and open to the public. In addition, two outreach performances for Appleton Area School District students will be held during the day on May 9.

Battle—working in collaboration with Margaret Paek and Mauriah Donegan Kraker, both visiting assistant professors of dance, and Conservatory music faculty—is leading the students through the creation of an original piece of composition and choreography, titled Gather Together. It is a 20-minute work comprised of three parts. It opens, Donegan Kraker said, with an unfolding or blossoming of material—an adagio that is a welcoming to the work. The middle of the work is a solo for student Ella Fajardo-Wilde, who steadily moves through a landscape that feels like city, sky, and noisy river. She works with a smooth press, a passing through to see the horizon, the possibility of what might be next. The choreography culminates with a celebratory, high-energy ensemble dance—complex and cyclical, folding into and out of various formations.

“As we know from our practices of dance, embodiment creates pathways for curiosity, resiliency, and connection through movement,” Paek said.

Robert Battle works with students on choreography in advance of the May 9-10 performances. (Photo by Danny Damiani)

The creation of the work is part of a Creator in Residence program that aims to bring world-renowned creators to ��ý��Ƶ to collaborate with and inspire students and faculty. Launched in the fall and made possible through a gift from Harold ’72 and Mary Donn ’73 Jordan, the Creator in Residence program speaks to ��ý��Ƶ’s commitment to academic and artistic excellence.

Battle is an icon in the dance world, having served as artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre from 2011 until late 2023. Future Creator in Residence programming is expected to span a range of disciplines, from sciences to humanities to arts.

Battle has set the tone for the new program over the past year. The connection with students was immediate when he first came to campus for a week-long residency in the fall.

“These students are multifaceted,” Battle said. “They’re really smart, and they value art, they value dance. They have a lot to express, a lot to say.”

Study dance at ��ý��Ƶ

This innovative program will nourish you as you take an embodied, experimental approach across disciplines to art making.

When he returned to campus in February, Battle worked with students and faculty to prepare a performance built on artistic expression. It evolved organically, collaboratively. Battle said he usually comes in with steps already set, but he wanted this to be a collaborative process, with creative ideas flowing both ways.

Battle is now back on campus, the last leg of his residency, to finalize and present the performance, working in partnership with rehearsal director Donegan Kraker and Conservatory faculty Loren Kiyoshi Dempster and Jean Carlo Ureña Gonzalez.

Donegan Kraker said the performance “celebrates and reflects our collaborative ways of working at ��ý��Ƶ: deep conversation around process, interdisciplinary projects, student/faculty collaborations.”

The musicians, she said, embraced the collaboration as fervently as did the dancers. Prior to Battle’s first visit to campus, Dempster and Ureña Gonzalez worked on building the collaborative process with percussion students by having them watch videos of Battle’s earlier choreographies without sound, co-creating original music ideas along the way.

Dempster and Ureña Gonzalez then improvised accompaniment for Battle’s dance classes as an initial connection point. They began crafting musical drafts and sending them to Battle for consideration. They brought in multiple traditions, genres, and music cultures, combining inspiration from traditional folk music, Latin jazz, blues, and Baroque classical. During the February residency, Conservatory student Luis Plaza was added to the mix, improvising on piano.

In the dance rehearsals, there was often at least one musician working live while Battle was setting choreography, and new possibilities emerged.

“There will be a few surprises – interactions that came about during rehearsals that could only happen with this kind of extended time spent together,” Paek said. “Embodied presence, creating simultaneously in time and space, allows for this kind of powerful collaboration and innovative connection. This kind of hands-on experience—creating art together as faculty, professional artists, and students—this is what ��ý��Ƶ does so well and why the Creator in Residence program is so specifically well-suited to ��ý��Ƶ.”

Fajardo-Wilde, a sophomore from Brooklyn, New York, said the experience has been energizing.

“When working with Robert Battle as he set work on me for my solo, we flowed in collaboration, even incorporating a section of improvisation in my solo,” she said. “This made me excited to keep coming back to work with him.”

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Robert Battle ready to collaborate with students, faculty in creation of a dance performance

Communications — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 17:45:05 +0000

Robert Battle, ��ý��Ƶ’s inaugural creator in residence, will be back on campus in late February to work with student dancers and musicians in preparation for a performance planned for Spring Term.

The acclaimed choreographer and former artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was named ��ý��Ƶ’s first creator in residence in the fall. He spent more than a week on campus in October for what he called a “get-to-know-you experience,” teaching dance classes, talking with faculty and students, and making connections in the community.

“We had a wonderful time in the class, them getting to know my artistic journey, my value system in terms of art and how it has informed my life and how it informs theirs,” Battle said. “The conversation has just started. The next part of that is to create a work with select students and collaborate on what that work will be and how it might be meaningful.”

The pioneering creator in residence role that was made possible through a gift from Harold ’72 and Mary Donn ’73 Jordan speaks to the university’s commitment to academic and artistic excellence. Future creator in residence programming is expected to span a range of disciplines, from sciences to humanities to arts.

Students dance under the guidance of Robert Battle in Warch Campus Center. (Photo by Ken Cobb)

The connection with students when Battle was here in the fall was immediate. They have a passion for dance, he said, but their interests go well beyond. And the studio in Warch Campus Center where he led classes, with light pouring in through the massive windows, was inspiring.

“These students are multifaceted,” Battle said. “They’re really smart, and they value art, they value dance in this particular scenario. They have a lot to express, a lot to say.”

Building a performance

When he returns on Feb. 22, Battle will spend a week working with students and faculty on a performance built on artistic expression. The performance will evolve quickly and organically as Battle collaborates with the dancers and musicians.

“Usually, I come in with my steps and you do the steps and that’s it,” Battle said. “But my feeling from being there in the fall is that it will flow both ways in terms of them being a part of the creation of this work, which is new for me and perhaps new for them. To me, that’s my excitement, to always be learning, investigating, trying new things. I think this is a space where I felt safe to do that, very much supported by the faculty and by the dancers.”

Battle will then return for nearly two weeks in May to finalize and present the performance. Dates and times have not been announced.

A new focus

Robert Battle meets with students during Fall Term as part of the Creator in Residence program. (Photo by Ken Cobb)

��ý��Ƶ’s Creator in Residence program is one of Battle’s first professional opportunities after stepping away from the Ailey troupe in late 2023. Since his first visit to ��ý��Ƶ in October, he has been named resident choreographer of the acclaimed Paul Taylor Dance Company and has been invited to teach at other schools. It’s a role he embraces.

At ��ý��Ƶ and elsewhere, Battle said, it’s a time for him to give back, to be that inspiration to others that his teachers and mentors have been to him.

“I’ve done a lot in my career in dance,” he said. “I’ve climbed ladders and mountains that I didn’t even think possible. I feel I’m at this place in my career where I really want to give back in meaningful ways. The most impact on my career has been from people who did just that, pay it forward. Teachers who, yes, they taught dance, but the things they really taught you were life lessons through dance. So, people who know me know I’m always lifting up the names of teachers who have had that kind of impact on me. I want to be that for these students.”

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Robert Battle, acclaimed choreographer, named ��ý��Ƶ’s inaugural Creator in Residence

Communications — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 13:53:00 +0000

��ý��Ƶ announced the appointment of Robert Battle, acclaimed choreographer and former artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, as its first Creator in Residence. This pioneering role, made possible through a gift from Harold ’72 and Mary Donn ’73 Jordan, will enrich the university’s commitment to academic and artistic excellence.

“At ��ý��Ƶ, we believe that creativity fosters creativity, and that principle is at the heart of our educational experience,” said President Laurie A. Carter. “We are excited to welcome Robert Battle, whose remarkable artistic journey and dedication to collaboration will inspire both our campus and the wider community.”

Battle’s residency will begin with a visit in mid-October 2024, where he will engage with students and faculty across multiple disciplines, including dance, music, and visual arts. His focus will be on fostering collaboration and planning for a more extensive residency in February 2025, culminating in a performance in April.

“I am honored to be ��ý��Ƶ’s first Creator in Residence,” said Robert Battle. “This role represents a unique opportunity to share my passion for dance and creativity, and I look forward to inspiring students and engaging with the community in meaningful ways.”

The Creator in Residence program will continue to feature diverse creators—including musicians, scientists, and more—who will lead engaging programs, collaborate with faculty, and participate in events that enhance the academic and artistic vibrancy of ��ý��Ƶ. This initiative reflects the institution’s commitment to fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation within the community.

Robert Battle became the artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 2011, after being selected by Judith Jamison. A visionary in the dance world, he is known for championing diverse artists and expanding the Ailey repertory. An accomplished choreographer, educator, and public speaker, Mr. Battle has received numerous accolades throughout his career, including the Dance Magazine Award and the Statue Award from the Princess Grace Foundation.

��ý��Ƶ, a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music, is dedicated to cultivating creativity and enriching the educational experience for its students and the community. The Creator in Residence program is part of this commitment, bringing diverse creators to inspire and engage with all facets of the ��ý��Ƶ community.

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Creator in Residence Archives - �������ý��Ƶ

Listening to your creative voice with Creator-in-Residence Patricia Smith

Acclaimed choreographer Robert Battle sets tone as �������ý��Ƶ debuts Creator in Residence program

“A lot to express”

Eye on collaboration

“Everybody has a story”

A new focus

Robert Battle-led dance performances to culminate inaugural Creator in Residence program

Study dance at �������ý��Ƶ

Robert Battle ready to collaborate with students, faculty in creation of a dance performance

Building a performance

A new focus

Robert Battle, acclaimed choreographer, named �������ý��Ƶ’s inaugural Creator in Residence

Creator in Residence Archives - ��ý��Ƶ

Acclaimed choreographer Robert Battle sets tone as ��ý��Ƶ debuts Creator in Residence program

Study dance at ��ý��Ƶ

Robert Battle, acclaimed choreographer, named ��ý��Ƶ’s inaugural Creator in Residence