Education:
Bachelor of Arts in Dance, UNC Charlotte (2001)
Master of Fine Arts, Choreography, UNC Greensboro (2009)
PhD, Dance, Texas Woman's University (2017)
Hometown: Home "region" Virginia/North Carolina
Ali Duffy moved to Lubbock, Texas, in 2009 to join the faculty at Texas Tech University. The following year, she co-founded Flatlands Dance Theatre and has since artistically directed all of the company's productions. Her choreography has been presented in numerous venues and festivals across the US, and in 2009 she received the Kristina Larson Excellence in Choreography award.
As a writer, Ali covers the American Dance Festival at Duke University for World Dance Reviews and has also been published in Ballet-Dance Magazine, Dance Spirit Magazine, Classical Voice of North Carolina, The World and I, and is featured in The Longwood Guide to Writing. The Dance Critics Association named her their honorary Gary Parks Scholar in 2008, and she was elected to the DCA National Board of Directors in 2010. Her written research has been presented at the International Conference on the Arts in Society in Sydney, Australia, the Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, and the 26th Annual Conference on the First Year Experience in San Francisco. Texas Tech also honored her with the 2010 Gloria Lyerla Memorial Research Grant.
"There are so many meaningful moments (from my time at UNC Charlotte), but here are two especially important experiences for me," Ali says. "My first course at UNC Charlotte was a Jazz class with Karen Hubbard. I was immediately struck by Karen's infectious energy and love for movement. She taught me a lot about adapting to different dance styles and the importance of understanding a dance's history. And working with Delia Neil was a highlight of my university experience. She pushed me to find places in my technique that I didn't know were there; she encouraged me to pursue higher endeavors, which is so important because everyone needs an advocate in college; and she gave me opportunities to succeed, which I am grateful for."
Ali says that the UNC Charlotte Department of Dance provides students with a comprehensive study of performance, choreography, scholarship, and dance education, resulting in a well-rounded education.
"I would enthusiastically recommend the dance program at UNC Charlotte because of its innovative approach to the study of multiple contexts and perspectives of dance. My education at UNC Charlotte made me a desirable employee upon graduation. The faculty were incredibly supportive of my desire to involve myself in a range of activities and areas of interest, and because of this diversity of experience gained during college, I found myself advantaged in the professional dance field. In the UNC Charlotte dance program, I became skilled in multiple genres of technique and performance. I gained professional experience as a student teacher and an intern with NCDT (now Carolina Ballet), and was supported in my endeavor to dance competitively as an athlete with the university dance team. I learned much about performance, history, and critical thought at UNC Charlotte, but equally importantly, I learned life and career skills from a caring yet rigorous faculty."
In 2015, Ali was named the inaugural Distinguished Alumna in the Department of Dance.