Dr. James Frazier

Director

Dr. James Frazier is Dean of the Florida State University College of Fine Arts and a tenured Professor in the School of Dance. He comes most immediately from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). During his 18-year career at VCU, Dr. Frazier rose through the ranks from Assistant Professor to full Professor with tenure. He held the positions of Interim Dean (2016-2017), Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Faculty Affairs (2012-2016, 2017-2018), and Chair of Dance and Choreography (2007-2012). In addition to his work at VCU, for three years (2010-2013), he was Co-Dean of the American Dance Festival (ADF), housed on the campus of Duke University.

Frazier serves as a Visiting Evaluator for the dance accrediting body, the National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD), and since 2015 he has served on the board of the celebrated ADF. In the past, he held the elected offices of President and Secretary of the Council of Dance Administrators (CODA, 2008-2012). He was also an elected board member of the American College Dance Association (ACDA, 2011-2017), representing the Mid-Atlantic Region and he served as Co-Chair of the Diversity Task Force of the International Council of Fine Arts Deans (ICFAD, 2009-2016).

Dr. Frazier’s past appointments not already mentioned include: Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance History, Florida State University; Associate Artistic Director, Dance Institute of Washington (District of Columbia); Publicity Coordinator for the Urban Bush Women Summer Dance Institute (1998 and 1999); and adjunct appointments as a dance instructor at Florida A & M University, Florida State University, Temple University and Montgomery College (MD).

As a professional dance artist, Frazier performed and toured with Kokuma Dance Theatre Company (England)and Dallas Black Dance Theatre (Texas), and was a founding member of Edgeworks Dance Theater (Washington, DC). He has worked as a guest or creative collaborator with many others, performing nationally, including engagements at Jacob’s Pillow, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Dance Place, The Publick Playhouse [sic], Philadelphia’s Prince Music Theater, The Joyce (SoHo), and more. His own choreography has been presented at numerous universities, but also at Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center (Concert Hall and Millennium Stage), The National Museum, and the Carter Barron Amphitheater. He is a past recipient of the Virginia Commission for the Arts Choreographic Fellowship, and in 2009 he was commissioned to create a new ballet for the Richmond Ballet Company.

Frazier earned an Ed.D. in dance from Temple University and both an M.F.A. in dance and a B.S. in marketing from Florida State University. In 2006, he was awarded the Alma Hawkins Award for Excellence in Dance Education for emerging leadership in the field by the Council of Dance Administrators. He was made a fellow in the mentoring program of the International Council of Fine Arts Deans (ICFAD) in 2008. Current and recent affiliations include institutional memberships with the ACDA and the NASD and associate memberships with the ICFAD, the National College Art Association (NCAA) and the College Art Association (CAA).