Awards

School of Public Health John R. Endwright Alumni Service Award - 2009

About Debra Wright Knapp

Debra Wright Knapp serves as an Associate Professor and the Director of Dance at New Mexico State University. She has also been on the dance faculties of Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana University-Bloomington, University of New Mexico, and the Palucca School Academy of Performing Arts in Dresden, Germany. She has danced professionally with the Bill Evans Dance Company in Albuquerque, the Semperoper Ballet Company in Dresden, Germany, the Nora Reynolds Dance Company and Danzantes Dance Company in Albuquerque, InMotion Dance Company in Indianapolis, and the Windfall Dancers in Bloomington. Her professional career has also included roles as the Artistic Director for the Windfall Dancers and Windfall Movement Center, the rehearsal director and modern dance trainer for the Semperoper Ballet, the Artistic Coordinator of Celebrate Youth Summer Dance and the Bill Evans Summer Dance Institute, and guest choreographer and instructor for universities and colleges throughout the United States.

Her creative endeavors in education have included researching and implementing movement programs that enhance the curriculum for the kinesthetic learner for pre-school, elementary and middle school students. She is a dance/movement specialist for Young Audiences of Indiana and the Arkansas Arts-in-Education program. Dr. Knapp has also served as dance chairperson for the development of dance proficiency for the Indiana Department of Education. Dr. Knapp completed both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Physical Education from Indiana University. She continues to freelance as a choreographer, performer, and dance instructor.