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Personal Page: Suzanne Ostersmith

Suzanne Ostersmith has taught at Whitworth since 2000 and is the founder and director of the theatre dance minor. Her courses have included Movement for the Performer,Jazz I and II, Musical Theatre Dance, and Dance History and Choreography. Ostersmith is also the director of the dance program at Gonzaga University. Each year she takes students from both schools to the American College Dance Festival, where she presents master classes.

Education:
B.S. Theatre, U.C. San Diego
American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco, summer intensive
British American Drama Academy, Oxford England, summer intensive
Various dance classes

Areas of Specialization/Expertise:
Theatre choreography, directing and performance; concert dance: jazz, musical theatre and lyrical; dance instruction for elementary and secondary teaching

Selected Publications/Presentations/Honors:
*Exemplary Faculty Award in Service-Learning, 2006-07, Gonzaga University
*Civic Engagement Grant 2005 and 2007, awarded by the academic vice president's office, Gonzaga University
*Honorary member of Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit honor society that "honors those who have distinguished themselves in scholarship, loyalty and service through their intellectual, civic, religious, professional or commercial pursuits."
*Presented her original choreography, "In Stride," at the American College Dance Festival Northwest Regional Conference at University of Montana, 2007.