Abby Carlozzo, a junior Honors student majoring in dance and minoring in French and arts entrepreneurship, has been named a 2014 Beinecke Scholar. The Beinecke Scholarship is awarded nationally to 20 students each year who have demonstrated superior standards of intellectual ability, scholastic achievement, and personal promise. Beinecke Scholars must be current college juniors with plans to pursue a terminal degree in the arts, humanities or social sciences. The award provides $34,000 to support graduate studies.

Carlozzo is interested in researching cross-cultural dance collaborations through a career in dance education. This interest was sparked by a 2012 study abroad experience to Burkina Faso with Esther Baker-Tarpaga, assistant professor, dance. Since then, Carlozzo has developed her proposal for an honors thesis investigating how culture and life experiences influence dance-making. She will return to Burkina Faso this summer to conduct her research, advised by Melanye White Dixon, associate professor, along with Harmony Bench, assistant professor, and Karen Eliot, professor, Department of Dance.

“While a renewed sense of life and energy keep me desiring to move, the enormous span of the field of dance keeps me engaged and stimulated,” Carlozzo explained. “In the university setting, dance is more than technical prowess and agility. I practice both ballet and contemporary dance technique daily at Ohio State, but beyond the studio I am a student of dance history, theory, literature, pedagogy, and lighting and sound design. Ohio State also emphasizes the development of writing and speaking skills to prepare dancers to astutely articulate this art form in words.”

Said Bench, “Since she first walked into our Department of Dance, Ms. Carlozzo has been a bright, hungry, grateful and unquenchable presence. She is the rare student who knows what she wants to accomplish and what she needs to accomplish it. There is no holding her back.”

Carlozzo has performed in numerous Ohio State dance productions including Bebe Miller's The Hendrix Redux and Susan Hadley and Mitchell Rose's The Human Race. After graduation, she plans to obtain an MFA or PhD in dance and pursue a career as a dance educator.

Ohio State is one of 125 colleges and universities eligible to nominate students for the Beinecke Scholarship; each institution may only nominate one candidate per year. Carlozzo is the fourth Ohio State student and the first dance major to receive the prestigious award. Students interested in pursuing Ohio State's Beinecke Scholarship nomination should contact the Undergraduate Fellowship Office, http://fellowships.osu.edu.

Photographer: Christopher Chu

-Victoria Ellwood