2008 Woodie Awards
A Woman's Work
SRU faculty member gains fame for work in dance
By Caleb Pardick
Rocket Editor-in-Chief
Issue date: 2/3/06 Section: Entertainment
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While Payne is similar to her dance-instructing peers in these aspects, she also stands out in another: despite her busy schedule, Payne has found time to create, choreograph and perform at a level worthy of national recognition.
Payne and six other African-American choreographers have been recognized for their contributions to "This Woman's Work," a nation-wide dance collaborative, in an issue of Dance Magazine, a national publication devoted to all things dance. The staff of Dance Magazine traveled around the world in search of the most original, artistic and superb artists and groups for its "25 to Watch" list for 2006.
Payne, who received her bachelor's degree from SRU in 1992, said being recognized nationally was especially flattering.
"It's extremely satisfying, because I've been doing this work for 10 years now," Payne, 36, said. "It's been really difficult but also really rewarding. I've kind of created a name for myself as a choreographer."
Princess M'hoon Cooper and Bridget Moore, who have both been featured as guest artists at SRU in recent years, teamed up to create the collaborative in 2003. "This Woman's Work" attempts to identify and support the creative dance works of African-American choreographers.
Dance Magazine contacted Cooper, who then contacted Payne, who said the call came as a bit of a surprise.
"I was kind of shocked at first," Payne said. "Originally, I thought they (Dance Magazine) were focusing on Princess and Bridget, but when I read the article and I saw that they were talking about the collaborative, that's when I was really surprised. After that, that's when people started calling me and e-mailing me a bunch to congratulate
me."
Payne, who has been teaching in the dance department for 10 years, also said that the motivation behind "This Woman's Work" is particularly admirable.
"What we're trying to do is promote the black women choreographers of the next generation," Payne said. "We're trying to showcase the work being created by these choreographers that maybe wouldn't get a chance to be seen otherwise.
"We've had shows in New York, and this weekend we have one at Howard University in Washington, D.C., but all of it has really been unexpected. Bridget and Princess were just going to do one concert when they thought of the idea, but because the response was so overwhelmingly positive, and because all the shows sold out, they decided to keep it going, and what we're doing now is a result of that."
