Christopher Dolder

Christopher Dolder received an undergraduate degree in dramatic art and dance from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Fine Arts in choreography from Mills College with an emphasis in dance kinesiology. A former soloist with the Martha Graham Dance Company, he has spent the last 25 years on a multi-disciplinary journey that has taken him to projects in theater, dance, music, videography, kinesiology, interactive set design and “green” architecture. As an associate professor of dance at SMU Meadows School of the Arts, Dolder teaches all levels of the Martha Graham technique, dance kinesiology and dance composition, and is co-director of the Senior Dance Concert. He conducts research in three-dimensional interactive software for the instruction of dance kinesiology as well as exploring new forms of physical data capture in biomechanics.

Professor Dolder has a long-term research interest in contemporary dance cultures. He is currently in the final editing stage of his documentary The Ecstatic Dance of Burning Man: Permission to Transcend, a seven-year research project filmed in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, chronicling the emergence and evolution of dance sub-cultures throughout the history of the Burning Man Festival.