KENNESAW, Ga. | May 28, 2025

Adjudicated dance performances earlier this year ultimately paved the path to summer enrichment for three Kennesaw State University dancers.

Recent graduates George Chavez and Allison Behrend, along with rising junior Charlene Font, have all received scholarships to prestigious dance workshops. Chavez will attend the Professional Intensive Summer Division at the Alvin Ailey School in New York City, while Behrend and Font travel to the American Dance Festival at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

“It's truly a joy to have two KSU dancers attending the American Dance Festival this summer, as well as George at the Ailey Intensive,” said Autumn Eckman, assistant professor of dance in KSU’s Geer College of the Arts. “Their selections speak to their commitment, talent, and the strength of the KSU dance program. It’s incredibly meaningful to be able to support their growth in this environment, especially knowing firsthand how transformative ADF can be. The fact that they’re attending on scholarship is a testament to their hard work and promise as artists.”

In January, the trio were among several KSU dancers who participated in the Alabama Dance Festival in Birmingham and the American College Dance Association conference in Charleston, South Carolina. Before they presented their respective pieces, they auditioned collectively for a panel of adjudicators, and from those auditions they earned their summer experiences.

Shortly thereafter, emails offering summer opportunities started arriving in multiple students’ inboxes, creating quite a buzz in KSU’s Department of Dance facilities at Chastain Pointe. Behrend said having dancers earning prestigious summer opportunities puts the school in elite company among college dance programs, now and in the future.

“We already have a great reputation, but having strong, solid, committed, hard-working dancers representing KSU will continue to shed a positive light onto the university,” Behrend said.

At the American Dance Festival, dancers will have the chance to dabble in different forms and learn new techniques that they can take with them. Font, a ballet-focused dance major, looks forward to learning some more modern techniques, though she has embraced an eclectic path so far at KSU. A KSU Journey Honors College student, she has pursued a minor in writing to compliment her major in dance.

“I came to KSU and discovered that I could take all different kinds of classes, be in the Honors College, and explore other parts of my identity,” Font said. “It's made me a better artist overall, and everybody should feel like they're welcome to be open in that sense, like they can pursue any path they want.”

Chavez echoed the sentiment, citing the support of faculty like Eckman, a clinician at the American Dance Festival. Chavez didn’t get serious about dance until high school, later than most dancers, but he has found his fit and his community at KSU.

“These scholarships and these summer programs are just a tip of the iceberg of the support and the love that we have here,” he said. “To think from freshman year to now, all the times that a professor took a chance with me and saw something in me – it just goes to show that they want to see you win and they want to see you succeed.”

— Story by Dave Shelles

Provided photos by Lauren Liz and Sade Cope

A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees to its more than 47,000 students. Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia with 11 academic colleges. The university’s vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties, and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 8 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.