About Dr. Dawn Cooper-Barnes,
LRF Managing Director
A lifetime commitment to the arts, Dr. Dawn Cooper Barnes received her Ph.D. in Cine-ma from the University of Maryland, College Park, her B.A. in Dance/Theatre from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and an M.A. in Theatre from Hunter College, City University of New York. Prior to her studies in the United States, Dr. Barnes completed her high school education at the College du Leman in Geneva, Switzerland. A native of Liberia, her life-long interest in theatre, dance and art expression began in Monrovia as a student at the Kathleen Kemp School of Dance, and the National Cultural Center, Kene-ma, Liberia.
Dr. Dawn Cooper Barnes was formerly an Associate Professor of Arts and Humanities as well as Director of Dance at Howard Community College. Dawn is the past president of the Maryland Council for Dance, and 1997 recipient of the Howie Award (Howard County Arts Council's Artist of the Year). In 1996 she completed a one year sabbatical in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, where she studied traditional African culture; lectured at several major institutions; taught dance; choreographed; and performed and discovered another aspect to her love of performing arts: storytelling.
Dawn founded and served as Artistic Director for all five years of the Aurora Dance Company which earned her the Arts and Humanities' Faculty Member of the Year Award.
