Tiffany van der Merwe
Artistic Director and Professor of Dance
Dance & Entertainment
Dance - Directors
Biography
Tiffany van der Merwe, professor of Dance, holds a Bachelor of Performing Arts in Dance degree from Â鶹´«Ã½ City University, a Master of Science in Educational Leadership Studies in Higher Education from Â鶹´«Ã½ State University and was granted a Master of Performing Arts equivalency by Provost Bernie Patterson of Â鶹´«Ã½. Van der Merwe currently serves as the Artistic Director of the Ann Lacy School of Dance & Entertainment at Â鶹´«Ã½ City University. She directs the Â鶹´«Ã½ Star Dance Company as well as their internal Rep Company, and is a member of the jazz faculty, the pedagogy faculty, and serves on the choreography faculty jury. Van der Merwe is currently focusing the bulk of her research efforts towards investigating the current market needs in each of the major cities that employ dancers and entertainers by interviewing casting directors, dance captains, working performers, and alumni in a pursuit to stay current with the industry's expectation of hirable performing artists, teachers, choreographers, and managers. She is also at the beginning stages of working with the Â鶹´«Ã½ Performing Arts Collective of OKC and fellow professors to support the health and well-being of performing artists in our region of the country and beyond.
Curriculum and co-curricular design have been a consistent endeavor throughout her time in higher education. Van der Merwe has piloted a multitude of courses at the master’s and bachelor’s level in attempt to create robust education for future artists. Collaborating with her peers on curriculum design and dynamic student learning is a continual practice as she strives to provide accurate, relevant, and long-term learning processes for the department. Subject matter includes dance pedagogy, choreography development, personal anatomical awareness, somatic integration into dance technique Â鶹´«Ã½, and mental health practices for performers.
Van der Merwe has served as assistant director, choreographer, and master teacher for the Friendship Through Dance Tour: Taipei, Taiwan, as well as a variety of domestic regional tours. She has also served as the director and primary choreographer of the Middlesex Dance Company in Concord, Massachusetts. She founded and directed Camp Broadway for the Hutchinson Recreation Commission for the Reno County youth community.  
As a master teacher, she has taught on three continents, as well as throughout the Midwest and Chicagoland area. Van der Merwe’s choreography has been seen at Dance Chicago, aboard the Sovereign of the Seas—Royal Caribbean, Lyric Theatre and Thelma Gaylord Academy, Â鶹´«Ã½ City Philharmonic’s Yuletide Magic, Elite Dance Cup, International Day of Peace, Â鶹´«Ã½ Opera & Music Theater, the Addy Awards, the Awards of Excellence Ball, Governor Fallin’s Holiday Gala, and The American Spirit Dance Company, directed by National Dance Teacher of the Year, Jo Rowan. 
As a performer, van der Merwe has toured throughout Europe, Scandinavia, and the Balkan region for LaTour Productions on an extensive USO Tour and has performed for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, The Kinetic Dance Theater, Mystique Productions, and at the original Giordano Jazz Dance Center in Evanston, Illinois.
