Marin Leggat Roper teaches studio and lecture courses including Contemporary Modern Technique, Composition, Advanced Writing for Dance, Laban Movement Analysis, Dance Theory & History, and Dance Pedagogy. A Registered Somatic Movement Educator (RSME), Professor Roper’s creative and scholarly research examines the relationship between religious identity and creative practice, with focus on the body as a site of empathy and divine intelligence. Her writing about dance and empathy is included in Dance Education Around the World: Perspectives on dance, young people and change (Routlege), Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies: Contemporary Applications by Colleen Wahl (Human Kinetics) Journal of Dance Education in Practice and Dance, and Dance, Movement & and Spiritualities. Professor Roper currently serves on the BYU Council for Interfaith Engagement.
Before coming to BYU, Marin founded M.E.L.D. Danceworks in New York City, a contemporary modern dance company committed to “dissolving religious and cultural barriers through the art of dance.” Choreography has been presented by DUMBO Dance Festival, Cool NY Dance Festival, Movement Research, Triskelion Arts, The Field, and the U.S. State Department as a U.S. Cultural Envoy to India. Two of her works, A Memory Held and Lost and Wreck and Render have been honored as gala selections at the American College Dance Festival. International workshops and residencies include the Royal University of Fine Arts (Phnom Penh), Kolkata Sanved (Calcutta), Tata Institute of Social Sciences and the Terence Lewis Contemporary Dance Company (Mumbai).
Professor Roper developed and currently teaches Moving Out Loud!, a movement and leadership program inspiring “Bold Living and Bold Leading” for girls and women using applied somatic movement principles. @moving_out_loud
Education
BA, Dance Education/Sociology, Brigham Young University
MFA, Dance, University of Utah
Certified Laban Movement Analyst (CLMA), Integrated Movement Studies, USA
Professional affiliations:
International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association (ISMETA)
National Dance Education Organization (NDEO)
Recent publications and presentations:
(2023) “Personal reflections on somatic practice and education as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” Journal of Dance, Movement and Spiritualities, Issue 10:1.
(2023) “Daven: Examining Embodied Exploration and Choreographic Collaboration as a Model of Interfaith Engagement.” Conference on Religion and Spirituality in Society, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Collaborators: Jordan Halterman, Erik Stern
(2022) “Witness: The Role of Religion in the Performance Intentions of Dancers.” Kennedy Center Lecture Series, Brigham Young University. Collaborators: Quilan Arnold, Veena Basavarajaiah, Jordan Halterman, Tanatchaporn Kittikong, Alyssa Lilenquist, Lisa Ford Moulton, Connor Rasmussen, Abigail Steele, Erik Stern, Baylee Van Patten. Link to lecture-demonstration
(2019) “Somatic Based Choreographic Collaboration Between Dancers from the United States and India.” Dance Education in Practice, Volume 5(3).