Two University of Georgia dance students spent the summer training at internationally recognized programs in Italy and Germany, where they explored choreography as a form of artistic research alongside leading contemporary dance artists. 

Rising third-year dance and finance major Spencer Burdett studied the work of choreographer Pina Bausch with former members of Tanztheater Wuppertal at Orsolina28 in Italy. Rising fourth-year dance and marketing major Ava Grau trained at B12 in Berlin, an international festival focused on contemporary dance and artistic research. 

Their experiences reflect an approach to dance education in the University of Georgia’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Department of Dance that emphasizes inquiry alongside performance. Students use movement to investigate artistic ideas, drawing on coursework in history, theory, anatomy, and dance science while creating original choreography. 

"Dance is much brainier and more academic than people realize," Grau said. "When I create a dance, I do a lot of writing, reading, and research into the ideas I want to explore." 

At B12, workshops centered on choreographic research, giving Grau new tools for developing original movement. 

In one workshop, dancers identified the habits that shaped their choreography before deliberately creating work from the opposite qualities. 

"You have to examine your habits and flip your perspective," she said. "It's about finding a new approach." 

Rather than teaching combinations to replicate, the workshops explored how speed, weight, timing, and muscular effort shape meaning, equipping dancers with practical tools for composition. Training alongside artists from around the world also broadened Grau's understanding of movement while reconnecting her with family in Germany, where her father was born. 

For Burdett, the experience traced back to an unexpected moment during his first year at UGA. 

In a First-Year Odyssey seminar, he encountered The Rite of Spring, Igor Stravinsky's groundbreaking ballet score, and became fascinated by Pina Bausch's iconic interpretation, performed on a stage covered in dirt. 

He left class wondering what it would feel like to perform it himself. 

This summer, that opportunity arrived. 

At Orsolina28, Burdett joined about 50 dancers studying excerpts from six Pina Bausch works under former members of Tanztheater Wuppertal. The emphasis extended beyond mastering choreography to understanding the emotional truth behind every movement. 

One lesson stayed with him. 

"Don't perform to have others validate your experience," one instructor told the dancers. "Just live that experience, and people will see you and relate to you." 

The experience fundamentally changed how Burdett thinks about performance. 

"You're making what is real for the dancer also real for the people watching," he said. 

Although Burdett is also majoring in finance and Grau in marketing, both say the analytical skills they develop through dance extend well beyond the studio. Choreography requires observation, experimentation, collaboration, organization and critical thinking — skills reinforced through coursework in history, anatomy, pedagogy, dance science, and theory. 

"You're not only evaluated on how you dance," Burdett said. "The program constantly asks you to think." 

Their summer experiences confirmed that the research-driven approach they encounter at UGA mirrors the philosophy of leading contemporary dance institutions around the world. 

For Grau, that means continually questioning her own creative instincts. For Burdett, it means studying a work deeply enough to communicate its emotional core. Both returned to Athens with new choreography to explore — and, perhaps more importantly, new questions to pursue. 

Rebecca Gose, professor and head of the Department of Dance, said Burdett and Grau exemplify the type of artist UGA seeks to develop through its emphasis on creative inquiry. 

"Ava and Spencer are two excellent examples of the caliber of dancer, maker, and thinker sought in the contemporary dance world," she said. "That they aspire to seek out such intensive experiences at the international level and can thrive within them is a testament to their talents and their curiosity, which we strive to nurture here at UGA Dance." 

Gose said experiences like these illustrate that dance research extends well beyond performance. 

"Dance research extends far beyond performing or arranging steps," she said. "Like all artistic inquiry, it is conceptual, imaginative and rigorous, but with the body serving as the site of inquiry — both the subject and the method. The work Ava and Spencer engaged in this summer will help them develop their unique paths of research, which they'll continue to hone here at UGA Dance as they prepare to enter the profession."