Hello all of my wonderful CT friends, NOTE: This post was originally placed in the wrong section. I apologize for this, and I hope it is now placed correctly (titled as an AD since the auction isn't live and no coins are being sold?) Thank you, and if I still need to change something please let me know. As many of you are aware, I held a coin auction last fall to raise funds for an upcoming service learning trip to Panama. Thanks to generous donations from several online friends, as well as coins from my own collection, we raised $350 towards the trip. This amount has already been donated to the Department of Modern Dance. If needed, I am more than happy to provide a copy of the donation receipt as well as the letter I received from the Dean (just so you're confident I will actually donate the funds!) In the time since this auction, I have written a grant from the College of Fine Arts to help fund the travel costs for both myself and other graduate students. It was approved for all at maximum funding, which is $500/student per year. Since I wrote the grant, I now know how much the tuition is ($1,193 per student, which covers room/board/transportation but does not cover the cost of the airline tickets, which will be purchased shortly.) As promised, I am holding a second coin auction ending on February 17. Again, I will be donating many items from my own collection, and will be canvassing local coin shops as well as coin shops from my home area of St Louis. I'd like to use this opportunity to ask everyone if they would be interested in donating a coin towards the auction. (There is also an option, if you prefer, to donate directly to the department!) For those who would suggest it, I would like to mention that multiple other fundraising events will be taking place this semester, locally, to drum up support from the local community. If anyone is interested in donating to this auction, please send coins to this address: Benjamin Mielke c/o University of Utah Department of Modern Dance 330 South 1500 East Room 106 Salt Lake City, UT 84112 If you would like to donate directly to the fund, here is the link: https://umarket.utah.edu/ugive/ Once here, enter in "Modern Dance" in the search and then select "Modern Dance Cultural Exchange." Here is the description of the program (which was featured in the December issue of Dance Magazine) from the grant I put together: The Panama Dance and Cultural Exchange Program is a newly created project (2013 will be our second year of participation) designed to allow dance artists and students from the University of Utah to work with at-risk youth and local dancers around Panama City, Panama. Our partner in Panama City, Movement Exchange, is an international dance exchange that fosters cross-cultural understanding, leadership, self-esteem and community building through dance and service. While in Panama City, we will use dance as an educational medium to promote cultural awareness, support for the arts, and creative development among disadvantaged communities. Included in this project are adult and children’s classes at orphanages, at-risk foundations, the National Dance School of Panama, and the University of Panama. The culmination of the project will be the creation and presentation of several new dance works (either staged or site-specific) tailored to the needs of the children we teach. The Department of Modern Dance’s participation in the Panama Dance and Cultural Exchange Program last year was such a tremendous success for everyone involved that it was featured in the December 2012 issue of Dance Magazine. Not only does the Exchange Program afford graduate students the opportunity to present their thesis research in an international university setting, it also allows them a unique opportunity to develop coursework specifically designed for diverse at-risk populations. Returning participants then share their knowledge, experiences, and passion with the remaining student body, increasing the overall awareness of the power of dance as a vehicle for social change and youth empowerment. Participation in this program also prepares the graduate students of the Department of Modern Dance for post-graduate employment, where community involvement and global citizenry are highly sought after experiences. This is a tremendous opportunity for service in the dance field, bringing our knowledge and dedication to the art form into a place where support for the arts is nearly nonexistent. The presentation, instruction, and performance opportunities available to us in Panama will not only benefit the Panamanian dancers and children in that region, but also the dance community at large.
