KENNESAW, Ga. | Apr 8, 2020

Georgia’s premiere collegiate dance program gets a new leader

Ivan Pulinkala, dean of the College of the Arts at Kennesaw State University, has named Marsha Barsky chair of the Department of Dance, effective July 1.

Barsky has served as associate professor and director of Dance at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) since 2017 and as assistant professor at MTSU since 2007. Previously, she was the director of the Vanderbilt Dance Program and member of the executive board for the Tennessee Association of Dance. She was instrumental to the creation of the first collegiate dance major degree in Tennessee. Her career as a choreographer, performer, educator, and somatic movement practitioner has spanned over 20 years. She is deeply committed to art that engages socially, created from a place of embodiment and sustainability.

“Marsha Barsky brings her experience successfully leading two collegiate dance programs to her appointment at KSU Dance,” Pulinkala said. “Her background as a choreographer, performer and somatic movement practitioner will advance the future trajectory for Georgia’s leading collegiate dance program at KSU to greater national prominence.”

In May 2020, Barsky will serve as a visiting scholar at the Arthur Kroeger College of Public Affairs at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. In 2019, she received a Tennessee Arts Commission Individual Fellowship Award for Choreography. In 2017, she was named Foreign Expert in Dance at Chengdu University, China, and, in 2015, she received MTSU’s award for Excellence in Instructional Technology.

Through her professional company, Company Rose, she has presented works at the Frist Art Museum and in venues throughout the southeastern United States. She has performed with the Desert Dance Theatre and Shelter Repertory Dance Theatre, and in various works by independent choreographers and guest artists.

Barsky received her MFA in Performance, Choreography and Somatics from the University of Colorado at Boulder and her BFA in Dance from Arizona State University. She is a certified yoga instructor, a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique, and a certified Gyrokinesis® instructor.

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A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers more than 150 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees to its approximately 38,000 students. With 13 colleges on two metro Atlanta campuses, Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia and the third-largest university in the state. The university’s vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the region and from 92 countries across the globe. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 6 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status, and one of the 50 largest public institutions in the country. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu. For more information on the College of the Arts, visit arts.kennesaw.edu.