Debra H. Sowell
Encyclopedia
Debra Hickenlooper Sowell is a dance historian and an associate professor of humanities in the Department of Humanities, Classics and Comparative Literature at Brigham Young University
(BYU). She received her B.A. cum laude
and with High Honors from the Honors Program at BYU, where she majored in humanities and emphasized French literature
. She gained her M.A. in theatre history from Tufts University
, where she worked with Peter Arnott, and her Ph.D. in performance studies
from New York University
, where she wrote her dissertation under the supervision of the distinguished dance critic Marcia Siegel. She danced with the BYU Theatre Ballet and later with the Cambridge Court Dancers, where she studied and performed Renaissance dance with Ingrid Brainard. She enjoyed courses in dance history
under Jeanette Roosevelt and Walter Sorell at Columbia University
and a National Endowment for the Humanities
Seminar in theatrical dance under the supervision of Selma Jeanne Cohen
, who became her mentor. Cohen later edited the International Encyclopedia of Dance, to which Sowell contributed articles on Carlotta Brianza, the Christensen Brothers, and Nicola Guerra, as well as approximately 50 illustrations with accompanying captions for the six-volume encyclopedia.
Other Scholarship
An active participant, former secretary and board member of the Society of Dance History Scholars
, Sowell has made numerous presentations over the years on a variety of topics, from costume designs of Jean Berain
to Marinetti's Manifesto of Futurist Dance. Her 580-page tome devoted to The Christensen Brothers: An American Dance Epic (Harwood, 1988) garnered two distinguished awards: the 1998 Evans Handcart Award for western biography and the 1999 De la Torre Bueno Prize
's Special Citation from the Dance Perspectives Foundation. She has also enjoyed a John M. Ward Fellowship to accomplish research at the Harvard Theatre Collection and was awarded a BYU Alcuin Fellowship to begin in January 2011. Her most recent publications focus on the Romantic ballet in Italy.
Personal
Debra Sowell is married to Madison U. Sowell
, a BYU professor emeritus of Italian and comparative literature and currently the interim provost at Southern Virginia University
. Together they served a three-year mission for LDS Church in Italy (1998–2001). They have also assembled perhaps the largest private collection of pre-20th century rare dance prints and books in the USA. Together with curator Paul L. Anderson
, they produced the exhibit "Splendor and Spectacle: Images of Dance from Court Ballet to Broadway" (July–December 2007) for the BYU Museum of Art. The exhibit was based solely on materials in the Sowell Collection, as were the illustrations for their book on Il balletto romantico.
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
(BYU). She received her B.A. cum laude
Latin honors
Latin honors are Latin phrases used to indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned. This system is primarily used in the United States, Canada, and in many countries of continental Europe, though some institutions also use the English translation of these...
and with High Honors from the Honors Program at BYU, where she majored in humanities and emphasized French literature
French literature
French literature is, generally speaking, literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than French. Literature written in French language, by citizens...
. She gained her M.A. in theatre history from Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
, where she worked with Peter Arnott, and her Ph.D. in performance studies
Performance Studies
Performance studies have been growing as an academic field since the 1960s. Performance studies believe in the social act of Doing as it takes performance itself as the object of inquiry.The process of defining it becomes a practice in performance studies itself...
from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, where she wrote her dissertation under the supervision of the distinguished dance critic Marcia Siegel. She danced with the BYU Theatre Ballet and later with the Cambridge Court Dancers, where she studied and performed Renaissance dance with Ingrid Brainard. She enjoyed courses in dance history
History of dance
Dance does not often leave behind clearly identifiable physical artifacts that last over millennia, such as stone tools, hunting implements or cave paintings...
under Jeanette Roosevelt and Walter Sorell at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and a National Endowment for the Humanities
National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is located at...
Seminar in theatrical dance under the supervision of Selma Jeanne Cohen
Selma Jeanne Cohen
Selma Jeanne Cohen was a dance historian, editor, and teacher who devoted her career to advocating dance as an art worthy of the same scholarly respect traditionally awarded to painting, music, and literature...
, who became her mentor. Cohen later edited the International Encyclopedia of Dance, to which Sowell contributed articles on Carlotta Brianza, the Christensen Brothers, and Nicola Guerra, as well as approximately 50 illustrations with accompanying captions for the six-volume encyclopedia.
Other Scholarship
An active participant, former secretary and board member of the Society of Dance History Scholars
Society of Dance History Scholars
The Society of Dance History Scholars is a professional organization for dance historians in the United States and worldwide. Founded in 1978, it became a non-profit organization in 1983...
, Sowell has made numerous presentations over the years on a variety of topics, from costume designs of Jean Berain
Jean Bérain
Jean Bérain may refer to:* Jean Bérain the Elder * Jean Bérain the Younger...
to Marinetti's Manifesto of Futurist Dance. Her 580-page tome devoted to The Christensen Brothers: An American Dance Epic (Harwood, 1988) garnered two distinguished awards: the 1998 Evans Handcart Award for western biography and the 1999 De la Torre Bueno Prize
De la Torre Bueno Prize
The de la Torre Bueno Prize is an annual award offered by the Society of Dance History Scholars for the best book in the field of dance studies. The award honors José Rollins de la Torre Bueno, the first university press editor to develop a dance studies titles list...
's Special Citation from the Dance Perspectives Foundation. She has also enjoyed a John M. Ward Fellowship to accomplish research at the Harvard Theatre Collection and was awarded a BYU Alcuin Fellowship to begin in January 2011. Her most recent publications focus on the Romantic ballet in Italy.
Personal
Debra Sowell is married to Madison U. Sowell
Madison U. Sowell
Madison U. Sowell is a professor emeritus of Italian and comparative literature at Brigham Young University , where he taught for three decades . He also served as the chair of BYU's department of French and Italian , an Alcuin Fellow, a Karl G...
, a BYU professor emeritus of Italian and comparative literature and currently the interim provost at Southern Virginia University
Southern Virginia University
Southern Virginia University is a liberal arts college located in Buena Vista, Virginia that promotes standards and values of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while not being owned nor operated by the Church...
. Together they served a three-year mission for LDS Church in Italy (1998–2001). They have also assembled perhaps the largest private collection of pre-20th century rare dance prints and books in the USA. Together with curator Paul L. Anderson
Paul L. Anderson
Paul L. Anderson is a Latter-day Saint architectural historian, museum curator and hymnwriter.Anderson was born in Pasadena, California and as a young man served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Japan....
, they produced the exhibit "Splendor and Spectacle: Images of Dance from Court Ballet to Broadway" (July–December 2007) for the BYU Museum of Art. The exhibit was based solely on materials in the Sowell Collection, as were the illustrations for their book on Il balletto romantico.
Sources
- Madison U. Sowell, The Art of Terpsichore from Renaissance Festivals to Romantic Ballets, Introduction by Debra H. Sowell (Friends of the BYU Library, 1994).
- Debra H. Sowell, The Christensen Brothers: An American Dance Epic (Harwood, 1998).
- Madison U. Sowell, Debra H. Sowell, Francesca Falcone, and Patrizia Veroli, Il balletto romantico: Tesori della Collezione Sowell (Palermo: L'Epos, 2007), esp. pp. 17–21 which relate the story of the Sowell Collection.
External links
- http://moa.byu.edu
- http://www.byu.edu