Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst

Department Member, Masters Program in Contemporary Dance Pedagogy

Dramaturg and Production Assistant, The Forsythe Company

About

Freya Vass-Rhee holds a PhD in Dance History and Theory from the University of California, Riverside, having completed her dissertation. "Audio-Visual Stress: Cognitive Approaches to the Perceptual Performativity of William Forsythe and Ensemble" in 2011. Her research interests include cognitive dance studies, visuo-sonority in contemporary dance, performativity, perception of dance, arts/sciences interdisciplinarity, gesture studies, performance studies, dance history, world dance cultures, and critical dance studies.

Since 2006, Freya has worked as dramaturg and production assistant for The Forsythe Company, and since 2008 as instructor at the University of Music and Performing Arts Frankfurt. She is also currently developing empirical dance research designs with Prof. Catherine Stevens (MARCs Auditory Laboratories, University of Western Sydney).

Freya has instructed at the University of California, Riverside and for the Liberal Education for Arts Professionals (LEAP) program of St. Mary's College of California. Prior engagements include professional dancer (13 years), dance teacher/ballet mistress (15 years), choreographic assistant (3 years), and freelance choreographer (2 years) in dance companies and schools in Europe and the U.S. 


Upcoming:

"Distributed dramaturgies: Navigating with Boundary Objects," book chapter, under review.

"Dalcroze's Legacy: 100 Years of Improvisation Technologies," invited lecture, Hellerau European Centre for the Arts, Dresden, June 2,2012.


Recent talks and publications:

"Promising research, questioning education: The Dance Engaging Science Workshops," invited lecture, Kulturerbe Tanz: 3rd Biennale for Dance Education, Frankfurt am Main, March 6-13, 2012.

"The sounds (and sights) of silence: William Forsythe's compositions of quiet," paper presented at Moving Music/Sounding Dance: Intersections, Disconnections, and Alignments between Dance and Music, annual conference of the Congress on Research in Dance, Philadelphia, Nov. 17-20, 2011.

"Distributed Dramaturgies, or: Why I Changed My Job Title," paper presented at Dance Dramaturgy: Catalyst, Perspective and Memory, annual conference of the Society of Dance History Scholars, Toronto, June 23-26. 2011.
 
Dissertation (2011)
Audio-Visual Stress: Cognitive Approaches to the Perceptual Performativity of William Forsythe and Ensemble
The dissertation, an investigation of William Forsythe's works and choreographic practices from a cognitive perspective understood as a broad plurality of approaches, develops the concept of perceptual performativity and argues for amplified attention to the role of sound in contemporary choreography and performance.

"Dancing Music: The Intermodality of The Forsythe Company," in Steven Spier, ed., William Forsythe and the Practice of Choreography: It Starts From Any Point (Routledge, 2011), 74-90.

"Turning the Tables: William Forsythe's Antipodes I/II," in Birgit Wiens/Gabriele Brandstetter, eds.,Theater Ohne Fluchtpunkt/Theater Without Vanishing Points (Alexander Verlag, 2010), 293-301.

"Auditory Turn: William Forsythe's Vocal Choreography," Dance Chronicle 33 (2010), 388-413.


B.A. (Hons.), Linguistics and Cognitive Science, UCLA, 2001.
Ph.D., Dance History and Theory, UC Riverside, 2011.