Rosanne Barton-DeVries of the Hope College dance faculty has received three awards in conjunction with her studies at Western Theological Seminary.
Barton-DeVries is a part-time lecturer in dance at Hope and is also co-artistic director of the IDT dance company. She is pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at the seminary and received three awards during the seminary's honors convocation on Thursday, May 1.
She received the "Seminary Award in Christian Ethics," given for the highest achievement in Christian ethics; the "Seminary Award in Christian Education," given to the M.Div. candidate who has done outstanding work in the field of Christian education courses and formation-for-ministry assignments; and the "North American Professors of Christian Education Certificate," given for outstanding scholarship in the field of Christian education.
Barton-DeVries began her studies at the seminary in August of 2003 and anticipates graduating in 2009. Her vocational interest centers in using the language of dance to interpret and represent the scriptures in both the sanctuary and on the stage. Following the currents of liturgical dance that date back to the ancient church, she is working to recover the physical movements of the Christian liturgy even as she breaks ground with the development of a "kinesthetic hermeneutic" for scriptural interpretation. She is particularly interested in recovering a sense of embodied discipleship and continues to integrate the movement arts with Christian education, mission and faith formation.
Barton-DeVries has taught at Hope since 2000, and is also resident director of the college's student Wyckoff Hall residence hall. She is a 1990 graduate of GrandValleyStateUniversity.
IDT, formerly InSync Dance Theatre, is an affiliate of the college's department of dance, and in April was invited to perform at the statewide Dance Michigan: Choreographers' Showcase in Saline. Barton-DeVries was one of six choreographers who had work chosen as an entrant in the statewide Maggie Allesee New Choreography Award competition held at Hope in October 2007. In June of the same year, she presented "Face Time," a 15-minute tap choreography inspired by the vision of the Greek Orthodox Saint Makarios at the Orthodox Academy of Crete, Greece. This work was submitted as part of the international art project: "Face to Face."