Department of Theatre, Drama, and Contemporary Dance

Garlynn Gillespie is an interdisciplinary dancer who is currently a Senior at Indiana University earning a B.F.A. in contemporary dance. During her time at Indiana University she has performed in works by Director Liz Shea, Professor Beatrice Capote, Katie Phelan Mayfield, Justin Sears-Watson, and DaEun Jung within Journeys of Joy (2022), Cultural Immersion (2023), and Reconstructed/Reframed (2024). In 2021, she worked on the stage crew for IU’s Contemporary Dance Concert Earthward as the soundboard manager. She grew up training at the Academy of Movement and Performing Arts in Paducah, Kentucky where she trained in ballet, contemporary, modern, jazz, tap, and hip-hop under the direction of Tressa Wilham. In addition, during her time at Indiana University she has trained in African Diasporic styles and modern dance techniques. She has worked as a guest teacher and rehearsal director at the Academy of Movement and Performing Arts teaching ages 3-18. Over the years she has worked with accomplished artists such as Chelsea Thedinga, Jordyn Santiago, Jared Baker, Caroline Lewis Jones, Chris Jacobsen, Brooke Perotti, Caroline Dahm, and Shauna Zambelli. She has choreographed for Indiana University’s Junior Choreographic Performance Project in 2023 and collaborated in numerous student projects such as University Players Student Lead Independent Project and Advanced Choreography Investigations. In 2023, she trained internationally at Dance Italia in Lucca, Italy where she learned from many artists such as Cristina Planas Leitão, Stefano De Luca, Maya Orchin, and Stefanie Nelson. She also attended Salt LINK Dance Festival in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2024 where she learned and worked with company members from Salt, Gibney Company, LED, Whim W’Him, BodyTraffic, Arkam Khan Company, Kidd Pivot, and NWA Ballet Theatre.