Dr. Michelle Heffner Hayes
School of the Arts (SotA) - School of the Arts - Theatre and DanceProfessor
Chair, Department of Dance
mhayes@ku.edu
Primary office:
785.864.1098
Robinson Health and Physical Education Center, 251
University of Kansas
1301 Sunnyside Avenue
Michelle Heffner Hayes earned a Ph.D. in Dance History and Theory (now Critical Dance Studies) from the University of California, Riverside in 1998. She is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Dance at the University of Kansas, where she teaches arts administration, modern dance, improvisation, choreography, dance history and flamenco. Her book Flamenco: Conflicting Histories of the Dance was published by McFarland & Company in 2009. Other publications by Hayes include discussions of contemporary flamenco on film (Dancing Bodies, Living Histories: New Writings on Dance and Culture, 2000), parallels in postmodern dance improvisation and flamenco (Taken By Surprise: An Improvisational Reader, 2003) and understanding flamenco performance (The Living Dance. An Anthology of Essays on Movement & Culture, 2012). Most recently, she contributed to and co-edited Flamenco on the Global Stage: Historical, Critical and Theoretical Perspectives, with K. Meira Goldberg and Ninotchka Devorah Bennahum, McFarland & Company, Inc., October 2015. Hayes also served as the Executive Director of Cultural Affairs at Miami Dade College from 1999-2006, where she curated and managed a multidisciplinary performance and commissioning series devoted to contemporary and culturally specific work that is reflective of Miami's multi-ethnic community. She was the Artistic Director of the Colorado Dance Festival from 1997-1999, where she curated a performance and education series that concentrated on the dances of the African Diaspora. In over 15 years of experience as a performing arts administrator, she has been involved in creating new models for national arts education and audience development, as well as infrastructure development for international cultural exchange.
Teaching
Teaching is the place where I get to share my passion for dance and culture, and learn through dialogue with students. I like to think about the lessons of all my mentors as heirlooms that have been entrusted to me. At the same time, I learn from my students every day. Their feedback on the integration of my research and practice is vital.
Teaching Interests
- Dance
- Flamenco
- Cultural studies
- Feminist studies
- Postcolonial studies
- Pedagogy
- Interdisciplinary collaboration
- Improvisation
- Embodiment
Research
My research takes the form of traditional scholarship, like books and articles that deal with dance as a form of cultural studies; but also choreography, the composition of dances, to explore ideas. For me, writing and choreography are inter-related fields. In both modes, I seek intelligibility. Movement is the lens through which I see the world. I write about flamenco and improvisation, primarily, but I'm interested in bodies and how they create and are created by issues of gender, race, sexuality, class and power.
Research Interests
- Dance
- Flamenco
- Cultural studies
- Feminist studies
- Postcolonial studies
- Pedagogy
- Interdisciplinary collaboration
- Improvisation
- Embodiment
Selected Publications
Hayes, Michelle H, PhD. 2019. ““Lo Que Queda/That Which Remains: Dancing Bodies, Historical Erasure and Cultural Transmission".” Book Chapters. In The Body, The Dance, the Text: Essays on Performance and the Margins of History, edited by Brynn W. Shiovitz PhD. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co.
Hayes, Michelle H., and K. Meira Goldberg Ph.D. 2016. “Oral History Project, Belen Maya, Duke University Dance Program, Duke Universities Library.” Other.
Hayes, M. H. 2015. “Choreographing Contemporaneity: Cultural Legacy and Experimental Imperative.” Book Chapters. In Flamenco on the Global Stage: Historical, Critical and Theoretical Perspectives.
Hayes, Michelle H. 2015. Flamenco on the Global Stage: Historical, Critical and Theoretical Perspectives. Books. Edited by Ninotchka Bennahum, K. Meira Goldberg, and Michelle Heffner Hayes. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
Goldberg, K. Meira, Ed.D., Ninotchka Devorah Bennahum Ph.D., and Michelle Heffner Hayes. 2015. “Introduction.” Book Chapters. In Flamenco on the Global Stage: Critical, Historical and Theoretical Perspectives.
Hayes, Michelle. 2014. “Nuevo Flamenco: The Galvan Legacy.” Web Publishing (article, blog, etc.). Philadelphia: Pew Charitable Trust. http://www.pasionyarteflamenco.org/.
Hayes, Michelle Heffner. 2013. “Looking Back, Looking Forward: Belen Maya and the New Vanguard.” Other. 100 Years of Flamenco in New York. New York: New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
Hayes, Michelle Heffner. 2012. “Flamenco: Music, Movement and Meaning.” Book Chapters. In The Living Dance. An Anthology of Essays on Movement & Culture, edited by Judith Bennahum and Ninotchka Bennahum. Dubuque: Kendall Hunt Publishing.
Hayes, Michelle H, PhD, and Sherrie Tucker PhD. Submitted/In Review. “Grafting and Other Ramifications: Improvisation in the Liberal Arts and Sciences.” Journal Articles. Edited by Jason Robinson, Sandy Mathern, and Mark Lomanno PhD. Improvisation and the Liberal Arts Special Issue of Critical Studies in Improvisation / Études Critique En Improvisation. . http://www.criticalimprov.com/public/csi/index.html.
Selected Work
"Improvising Inclusive Communities. Jesse Stewart and the AUMI Workshop Ensemble. National Endowment for the Arts and The Commons at KU, with support from community partners Independence, Inc. and the Lawrence Public Library Sound + Vision Studio, the School of Music and Departments of American Studies, Dance, and Theater. The Commons, Lawrence Public Library. Lawrence. 8/7/2017 - 8/12/2017. Jesse Stewart, international performer, composer, artist, and founder of We Are All Musicians (organization dedicated to inclusive community music making) facilitated all-ability music workshops, culminating in two community performances using the Adaptive Use Musical Instrument (AUMI) during the week of August 7th-12th. His artist residency was part of an international symposium of scholars who research improvisation and AUMI
Palos Nuevos: A Jazz/Flamenco Project. Commissioned by Reach Out Kansas Foundation. Lied Center of Kansas. Lawrence, KS. 5/3/2017 - 5/3/2017. Choreography and performance of three solos for a concert with Dan Gailey, the KU Jazz Ensemble and trumpet player Steve Leisring
"Lo que queda/That which remains...". Raul Rodriguez. Lied Center of Kansas. Lawrence, KS. 11/17/2016 - 11/18/2016. Raúl Rodríguez, a musician and anthropologist, created an exquisite album in Razon de Son (2014). He calls it “an imaginary folklore” that incorporates the varied intercultural dialogue that eventually became flamenco. These influences come from Andalusia (itself a rich mix of cultures: African, Arab, Sephardic, Roma, and regional folklore), the Caribbean and the American South. From the fourteenth to the nineteenth centuries, the slave trade and colonialism forced the migration of people and industry back and forth from Spain to the “New World.” Lo que queda/That which remains draws upon the decades that I have been privileged to study and research flamenco and African diaspora forms. The choreography pays tribute to the ways in which people from these different cultures, despite their circumstances, found a way to dance. The rhythms and shapes of those dances are still intelligible in the flamenco tradition. This work is my choreographic reinvention of those past danced moments through a contemporary lens
"A Doll's House". Henrik Ibsen. Department of Theatre, School of the Arts, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, University of Kansas. Stage Too! Crafton-Preyer Theatre. Lawrence, KS. November 14, 15*, 19, 20, 21, 22*, 2015. 11/14/2015 - 11/22/2015. Choreographed "Tarantella" for production of Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House," directed by Peter Zazzali for the University Theatre
Círculo de Mujeres (Circle of Women). Gema Corredera and Pavel Urkiza. Lawrence Arts Center. Lawrence, KS. 4/23/2015 - 4/24/2015. A work integrating Latin popular dance with contemporary dance for 16 students for the University Dance Company concerts
Un-Rolling the Boulder: Improvising New Communities. Collaboration. Choreographer. The Commons. Lawrence, KS. 10/30/2013. I participated in the ongoing collaboration with Kip Haaheim (Music), Nicole Hodges-Persley (Theatre) and Sherrie Tucker (American Studies). The research group partnered with AbleHawks, Groovability and Independence, Inc. to devise a performance with participants from the campus and community, called “Un-Rolling the Boulder: Improvising New Communities,” at the Commons on October 30, 2013
Anthem. Salina Community Theatre. Salina, KS. 4/27/2013. A contemporary dance theatre work for 18 students, for the University Dance Company concerts
Cradling Persephone. Lied Center of Kansas. Lawrence, KS. 4/28/2011 - 4/29/2011. A contemporary dance theatre work, revised from 2007, for 8 students, with an original score by Joseph Eidson for the University Dance Company concerts
La Vida. Melinda Hedgecorth. Lied Center of Kansas. Lawrence, KS. 11/18/2010 - 11/19/2010. Rehearsal director and soloist for flamenco work for 10 students by guest artist Melinda Hedgecorth, University Dance Company concerts
Collide. Lied Center of Kansas. Lawrence, KS. 4/22/2010 - 4/23/2010. A contemporary dance theatre work for 11 students, with an original score by Steve Dahlberg for the University Dance Company concerts
Exilio (Exile). Lied Center of Kansas. Lawrence, KS. 11/19/2009 - 11/20/2009. Choreography and performance of a contemporary flamenco solo for the University Dance Company concerts
Selected Presentations
Hayes, M. (9/19/2017). "Queering Flamenco: OUT in the Tropics and Flamenco Diverso". Oral History Seminar. Hall Center for the Humanities
Hayes, M. (4/6/2017 - 4/7/2017). “Lo que queda/That which remains…”. “Spaniards, Indians, Africans, and Gypsies: Transatlantic Malagueñas and Zapateados,” Center for Iberian and Latin American Music, and The Foundation for Iberian Music at the Barry S. Brook Center for Music Research and Documentation at the CUNY Graduate Center. University of California, Riverside, CA. http://brookcenter.gc.cuny.edu/2017-spaniards-indians-africans-and-gypsi...
Hayes, M. H., Goldberg, K. M., & Bennahum, N. D. (11/5/2016). "Queering Flamenco: Out in the Tropics 2016," a paper on the panel "Evidence embodied: flamenco’s transnational articulations of a tradition in tension.". Congress on Research in Dance+Society of Dance History Scholars. Claremont College, Pomona, California. http://www.cordance.org/event-1972559
Hayes, M. (9/16/2016). Flamenco: Beyond the Body of the Sensuous. Fridays at Noon. Harkness Dance Center, 92nd Street Y, New York. http://www.92y.org/Event/FAN-Flamenco
Hayes, M. H. (3/10/2014). Carlos Saura and the 'Flamenco Film Trilogy'. Pre-screening lecture prior to film Blood Wedding, Philadelphia Flamenco Festival, supported by the Pew Charitable Trust. Philadelphia, PA
Hayes, M. H. (3/15/2014). Contemporary Flamenco, Cultural Legacy and Experimental Imperative. Lecture, Philadelphia Flamenco Festival, supported by the Pew Charitable Trust. Philadelphia, PA
Hayes, M. H., Bennahum, N., Goldberg, K. M., & Brooks, L. M. (3/9/2014). Flamenco and its Influence on Visual Arts and Popular Culture. Curated panel of flamenco scholars, Philadelphia Flamenco Festival, supported by the Pew Charitable Trust. Philadelphia, PA
Hayes, M. H. (3/8/2014). Flamenco for Everyone. Lecture-demonstration, Philadelphia Flamenco Festival, supported by the Pew Charitable Trust. Philadelphia, PA
Hayes, M. H. (3/11/2014). Gender, Tradition and Technique in Flamenco. Lecture, Philadelphia Flamenco Festival, supported by the Pew Charitable Trust. Philadelphia, PA
Hayes, M. H. (11/16/2013). Metiendo la pata: Contemporary Flamenco as Social Protest. Paper presentation at the annual Congress on Research in Dance/Society of Dance History Scholars, "De-Centering Dance Studies," University of California-Riverside. Riverside, CA
Haaheim, K., Hayes, M. H., Hodges-Persley, N., & Tucker, S. (9/14/2013). Laptop Music and Embodiment: Materializing the Ephemeral. Panel presentation at "Return to the Material" conference, Institute for Research in the Digital Humanities, University of Kansas. Lawrence, KS
Hayes, M. H. (11/8/2012 - 11/11/2012). Soy Flamenco: Transnational Identities and Digital Cultures. Paper presentation in the panel "Diasporic Flamencas: Centuries of Cross-Cultural Influence," 2012 Annual Conference, "Re-generations: Cultural Legacies in Contemporary Contexts," Congress on Research in Dance. Albuquerque, NM
Hayes, M. H. (3/24/2012). State of Flamenco. Presentation, Philadelphia Flamenco Festival Symposium, Pasión y Arte Flamenco, supported by the Pew Charitable Trust. Philadelphia, PA
Hayes, M. H. (2/4/2012). Flamenco Alive! New Research on the Vital Art of Flamenco. (Via Skype) panelist with paper presentation, Duke University Dance Program. Durham, NC
Selected Grants
Improvising Inclusive Communities with the Adaptive Use Musical Instrument. National Endowment for the Arts. $35000.00. Submitted 11/17/2016 (1/1/2017 - 12/31/2017). Federal. Status: Proposal Submitted
Palos Nuevos: Jazz/Flamenco Project. Reach Out Kansas, Inc.. $3000.00 (3000). Submitted 8/5/2016 (8/11/2016 - 5/15/2017). Foundation. Status: Funded. ROKI hereby commissions CHOREOGRAPHER to choreograph a Spanish dance inspired work as a part of the following “Project,” to wit: Large Jazz Ensembles, Dance(s), Solo Trumpet, and Classical Guitar (“WORK”). CHOREOGRAPHER will choreograph the WORK, and also dance the WORK at the first performance of the WORK. The first performance of the WORK shall take place at the Lied Center - Lawrence, Kansas on May 3, 2017. The time and location of the first performance shall be subject to the prior approval of ROKI.
Mid-Career Artist Fellowship in Choreography. Kansas Arts Commission, Topeka, KS. $2500.00. (3/31/2009). State of Kansas. Status: Funded
