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Sarah Lawrence College is proud to announce a new fellowship opportunity in its renowned Master of Fine Arts in Dance program made possible by a generous gift from alumna Lila Greene ’71. This gift will establish The Greene Fellowship in Dance, a special two-year fellowship that provides full tuition remission and teaching stipends for two students, one entering the program in fall 2025 and one entering in fall 2026. This exciting opportunity is the latest step in the College’s rich history of developing visionary artists who will lead the future of dance and cultural expression.
“It is my hope that this will open up opportunities for people who otherwise would not have thought of applying to Sarah Lawrence,” Greene said of what inspired her to make this transformational gift. “I believe this new opportunity will enrich the lives of all students: the postgraduate students who will come to Sarah Lawrence through this fellowship, and the undergraduate students who will get to work with them.”
One of the first institutions in the United States to offer dance as its own discipline, Sarah Lawrence has long been a champion of the creative and performing arts within a liberal arts curriculum. The College’s MFA Dance program, started in 1949 and today led by John Jasperse ’85, serves as a holistic training program for dance artists as cultural citizens; its curriculum is based on a synergy of movement practice, creative research, and analytic studies. For decades it has produced graduates who are trailblazers in modern, post-modern, and contemporary dance, following a spectrum of career pathways including choreographers, performers, teachers, and scholars.
“We are living through challenging times, but still the arts continue to provide unique opportunities for reflection, renewal, and inspiration, and bring us together in community in ways that allow us to face our challenges,” said Jasperse, reflecting on the importance of this gift and the fellowship’s potential impact. “Creative leaders of the next generation will need to be adept, visionary thinkers capable of imagining new ways for art to function as a powerful catalyst for social change.”
Jasperse, whose career includes founding John Jasperse Projects and earning numerous prestigious awards, including two Bessies and a Doris Duke Artist Award, noted the College’s influence on his own artistic journey: “The seeds of envisioning dance as a vibrant practice of inquiry into the world were planted in me as a choreographer during my time as an undergraduate at Sarah Lawrence. I could not be more thrilled about the potential of this special fellowship opportunity to launch the careers of exciting new leaders in the dance field, prepared to face the challenges of the 21st century.”
For more information on this special fellowship opportunity or the MFA Dance program, please contact John Jasperse, director, at jjasperse@sarahlawrence.edu or (914) 395-2628.