BOONE—Kevin Warner has been named chair of Appalachian State University’s Department of Theatre and Dance effective July 1.

Warner currently is associate professor and chair of the Department of Dance at The State University of New York College at Brockport. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in dance from Temple University and has done post-graduate work in early childhood, elementary and music education. He has taught in public schools in New York and North Carolina.

“I am honored to be joining Dr. Treadaway’s team in the College of Fine and Applied Arts at Appalachian State University and look forward to working beside my new colleagues in the Department of Theatre and Dance,” Warner said, “My new position allows me to merge two of my greatest passions in life, theatre and dance, and to work collaboratively to determine the myriad of ways we can make these art forms accessible to the students at Appalachian and the surrounding community.”

Warner will replace Marianne Adams, who has been the chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance for eight years. Adams will return to the dance faculty in spring 2016.

“I extend my heartfelt appreciation for Marianne’s service to the Department of Theatre and Dance and am excited to see her return to the classroom and continue to serve our students,” said Dr. Glenda Treadaway, dean of the College of Fine and Applied Arts. “I welcome Kevin to the AppState family. I am confident that he will be an effective and dynamic leader for this active department.”

In addition to his work as a director and choreographer in theatre and dance, Warner maintains an active teaching and scholarship agenda focused on the role of dance in teaching and learning across all disciplines, particularly in public elementary school settings.

Warner has served as the advocacy chair of the New York State Dance Education Association and co-director of the Hunter Institute on Young Children at the College at Brockport.

Previously, Warner was the program director for North Carolina’s A+ Schools Program, where he designed and implemented teacher training and professional development for a network of more than 100 schools nationally. He also has served as project coordinator for the Appalachian Arts in Education Partnership, a federally funded (Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination grant) consortium of Appalachian State University, local schools and area arts councils in northwestern North Carolina, and as the project director for a Dana Foundation Rural Initiatives Grant to design and implement Teaching Artist training to rural counties in Northwestern and Northeastern North Carolina.

As an artist, Warner has choreographed and performed for companies including Ann Vachon/Dance Conduit, Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre, Opera House Theatre Company, and Melanie Stewart Dance. Most recently, he directed “Nijinsky’s Last Dance” for Bread and Water Theatre Company in New York and choreographed productions of “The Rocky Horror Show,” “The Music Man” and “The Wizard of Oz” in Western New York.

As a teaching artist, Warner has worked with public and private school children throughout North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania, presenting creative movement residency programs for pre-K-6th grade children on topics including “The Ocean Habitat,” “Forces and Motion” and “Life Cycles.”

For more information about the Department of Theatre and Dance visit http://theatre.appstate.edu

About Appalachian State University

As the premier public undergraduate institution in the Southeast, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.

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