About Dawn
Dawn Schultz is an educator and movement artist currently creating works out of Monmouth County, New Jersey. She is the founder of the Movement Exploration Laboratory and co-director of the dance department for the Visual and Performing Arts Academy at Ocean Township High School. In 1999, Dawn graduated from Kean University with a BA in Education and contributed differentiated learning pathways to this diversified field for 14 years in public education in California, Hawaii, and New Jersey. During this time, she was active with extracurricular activities, initiating and implementing dance programs in the school districts she taught.
In addition to Dawn's public school career, she began teaching at Santa Monica Dance Studio and performed with choreographers Marie Bergenholtz, Atle Hoff, and Benedicte Schoyen. After returning to New Jersey, she obtained her New Jersey Dance Teaching Credentials from her work in the industry and in 2009, returned to Kean University to complete coursework for an additional teaching certificate in Health and Physical Education. She has since transitioned to teaching dance as a full-time educator.
Dawn returned to college to receive her Master in Fine Arts in Choreography and is presently a Ph.D. in Art and Design candidate at Liverpool John Moores University. Presently she is researching methods in creating a dialogue with the body and materials within the environment to explore new movement possibilities in creating modes of performance. In examining various modalities a choreographer can engage with to set bodies in motion, the correlation between the materiality of creative expression explores how art embodies our ideas and experiences, thus, allowing choreography to make connections to the world around us. During the summer of 2019, Dawn was a lead artist in a global dance event, Seven to the Seventh, which connected artists and their communities across seven-time zones. Most recently she was invited by Ana Sanchez-Colberg, to collaborate with her on a MAP Funded Project, 1 (-1) Materiality of Exile, which was developed within the BoxoPROJECTS residency in Joshua Tree, California. She has been invited to choreograph and present her work with Dance Companies, Colleges, and Performing Arts academies nationwide.
Presently Dawn teaches Dance at Monmouth University. She also teaches Dance and Physical Education at Ocean Township High School and lives with her husband and children within the Township. She is assisting the high school to develop their Visual and Performing Arts Academy, where students will major within a specific focus of study; this project is the most exciting and transformative for the high school and its students. Mrs. Schultz is the advisor of the Ocean Dancers at TOIS and the choreographer for the Spartan Singers at the high school.
Dawn looks forward to expanding her creativity within the world of arts-based research. As an executive board member of the New Jersey Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance and a member of the National Dance Education Organization in conjunction with attending various residencies enables her to bring a plethora of knowledge back to students in the Arts Academy and contribute to a new generation of creators’ lifelong love for the art of movement. She is grateful for the development of opportunities she has experienced and humbled to study with individuals from around the world who have incredible artistic experience and backgrounds!
To learn more about Dawn, visit the Professional Portfolio tab in the menu bar and explore the website.