September 10, 2020
Associate department chair and head of the dance area Charles O. Anderson has received the prestigious Creative Research Award from The University of Texas at Austin's Office of the Vice President for Research and the University Co-operative Society recognizing his extraordinary creative achievement and scholarship in 2019.
Every year, one member of The University of Texas at Austin faculty and research staff is selected as a part of the University Co-operative Society's Research Excellence Awards in acknowledgement of creative excellence in the previous year. The Creative Research Award, along with the Career Award and the Best Paper Award, have become some of the most prominent symbols of peer recognition at The University of Texas at Austin. As this year's recipient, Anderson will receive a grant to support his future creative endeavors and will be recognized at an annual awards ceremony taking place this fall.
Anderson, a professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance, the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies and the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies, is an acclaimed choreographer and educator. The Creative Research Award recognizes his work with dance theatre X and his continuous development of (Re)current Unrest, a powerful exploration of legacy, authorship and the history of Black art and protest with movement and poignant imagery. The dance piece has made appearances at theatres across the nation, including developmental work at MANCC in Florida, Fusebox Festival in Austin and 651 Arts in Brooklyn.